Plastic Cafe
by VanityWantsYou
Summary: Sequel to When Sounds Become Visual He sold his soul to gain back what was most precious to him. SasuNaru NaruSasu. Yes! It's no longer on hiatus!
1. Another Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Yay! I started the sequel! Despite the happy title... this sequel's a bit sad...? Actually, other than sad Sasuke moments and angst and much drama in later chaps, this story is going to be as humorous as WSBV... if it was even funny? Also, Sakura has a bigger part in this story, and Naruto's character is a bit different. Mostly because his personality had been formed by knowing Sasuke, but since his memories of him are gone, he seems different.**

Naruto rolled over in his new bed, the dark red blanket scratching against his skin. He sighed in annoyance and kicked the material off the mattress. Opening his eyes, he looked over at the clock on his dresser. It read 3:05 a.m. Sitting up, he looked at the bed across from his.

Hide Zou was sprawled out on his own bed, his mouth open, drool soaking his black pillow. He unconsciously scratched his stomach in his sleep and mumbled something about running out of cigarettes, making Naruto grin in the darkness of the room.

Climbing out of bed, the blond went to Hide Zou's and jumped on the other male, causing him to shudder awake and almost choke on his own saliva. He sniffled and shoved Naruto off of him, onto the side of the bed against the wall. Rubbing his tired eyes, he glanced over.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" he asked, irritated.

Naruto propped himself up on his elbows and gave a foxy smile. He wasn't going to tell his boyfriend that he'd had a scary dream, so he'd just make up an excuse, like always. "I'm horny."

Hide Zou snorted and rolled over, covering his head with the thick blanket. "Then go take a cold shower. Depsite what you might think, Kinpatsu, I prefer sleep over sex."

Smiling, Naruto wrapped his arms around the other man and snuggled into him. "Fine, but can I sleep with you tonight? It's cold on my side of the room."

"Bullshit," the other groaned.

"I'll take that as a yes!" the blond chirped and closed his own eyes, but as soon as he did, he saw the figure from his apartment. He scooted closer to his lover and dug his head between his shoulders, shifting his legs and moving the blanket over himself with his feet. "Um, ZouZou?"

Hide Zou twitched. "What did I tell you about calling me that?" he growled.

"Ehh, gomen. But... can I confide in you?"

"Che, that's a big word," Hide Zou sat up and scratched the back of his neck, his red and black hair falling over his shoulders. He looked down at boyfriend and smirked. "And yeah, you can confide in me, Kinpatsu."

"Well..." Naruto propped himself up with a pillow. "Do you remember when I told you about sometimes seeing things in my old apartment?" when he received a nod, he continued. "Last week, when I was about to leave to bring my stuff here, I found a fox figurine under my couch," he pointed to the glass animal sitting on his dresser. "And then I suddenly heard someone call my name. Actually... they yelled my name... and when I turned around, I saw a guy standing right there by the kitchen table!"

The other boy raised a brow. "Another guy?"

The blond nodded. "He looked sort of sad... but he was still really creepy! And then just a bit ago, I had a dream about him..."

"Wait--That's the reason why you're in my bed?" Hide Zou laughed. "God, you're such a loser," he lifted Naruto up and tossed him on the floor, ignoring his whines of protest. "Sleep in your own damn bed, you baby," he grinned and laid back down. "Sweet dreams, Kinpatsu."

Naruto sat up and rubbed his lower back, glaring at his boyfriend. He grumbled loudly and climbed back up in his bed, looking around the room quickly before lying down and covering his head with his blanket. As he heard Hide Zou's breathing become steady, he peaked out from under the sheets. He was twenty, but he still had a fear of ghosts. It was something he didn't understand, though. He'd only suddenly became afraid of them during the middle of his sophmore year...

Realizing that nothing was there, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

oOoOo

"...Napoleon Bonaparte was then exiled for the second time. He made no attempt to escape, unlike with his first exile, and eventually died there of stomach cancer," the small, chubby teacher droned on, his monotone voice boring everyone in the classroom except for Rock Lee, a very enthusuastic college student. He was well-liked because of his positive attitude, handsome smile, odd choice of style, kindness, and strength.

"Sensei!" the bowl-haired man raised his hand, his coal black eyes sparkling with the desire for knowledge, making his childhood friend, Hyuuga Neji (Hinata's cousin who had just come to Japan from England), chuckle under his breath. "Even though I have heard this story various times during my youth, I must say that Bonaparte-san dying of stomach cancer wasn't a very good way for him to go! A great leader, such as himself, should have gone in a beautiful explosion!" his arms shot out and Neji, along with Lee's other table partner, TenTen, leaned back so they wouldn't be smacked.

The teacher sniffled a bit and gave a pudgy smile. "A beautiful explosion, eh? How about you give us your idea of such a death."

As Lee began explaining happily, in the back corner of the room Naruto slept. His blond hair was wet since he hadn't had any time to blowdry it that morning and it was matted down, the collar of his dark blue shirt damp. His cheek was pressed against the wood of his long desk, his mouth open, soft snores coming from his throat.

Beside him, Hide Zou listened to his ipod, tapping his foot on the floor. His hair was up in a messy black clip, the vibrant red tips jutting out like flames. Chewing on his lip ring, he glanced over at his boyfriend, not even bothering to wake him. The blond had kept waking up during the night and early morning in a cold sweat, as if he'd just awoken from a nightmare. After the fifth time, Hide Zou had been dragged out of slumber and had asked what he kept dreaming about. Naruto never answered him.

Leaning back, he pulled out his new cellphone and began text messaging to Sakura. The pink-haired woman was always on her phone during class, so he was positive she'd answer back right away. On days when his lover wasn't feeling well or when he was just out of it or in a daze, he knew to talk to her (Ino was in Portugal). She would always come up with ways to get the blond back to his energetic self, since Hide Zou tended to screw up when he even attempted the task.

After sending the message, the teacher said something, then dismissed the class. Sakura texted back.

_Can't help you this time, Zou! There's a new student that just arrived half an hour ago. He's HOTT! I'm going to be too busy flirting to help you. Be a good boyfriend and cheer him up yourself!_

Hide Zou glared at the phone, but then shrugged. He thought she needed a good lay, anyway, as bitchy as she always was these days. She must've hit menopause early in life. But he did wonder who the hot guy was that could so easily drag Sakura's attention away from Naruto. Shoving his Euro History book into his small bag covered in pins, he leaned forward and licked Naruto's ear.

"Wake up, Kinpatsu, let's get back to our dorm room. You can sleep there."

Slowly opening sky blue eyes, Naruto yawned, shifting and sitting up, licking drool from the corner of his mouth. He rubbed his face and lifted up his bright orange bag, having not even taken his Euro book out at the beginning of class. "Did we take notes...?" he asked tiredly.

"No, just watched a small film and went over some things we learned in highschool," Hide Zou stood and stretched, his bones popping nicely. Running his eyes over his lover's exhausted face, he smiled. "Come on, I'll carry you back, darling," he teased, lifting up the smaller man.

Blushing, but too tired to struggle, he let himself be carried away to their dorm building not too far away. People didn't stare, mostly because Hide Zou and Naruto had been a couple when they'd arrived at the school and now, students didn't see it as a surprising thing.

Setting Naruto down, Hide Zou unlocked their room door and pushed it open, the scent of citrus floating into the hall. The man loved oranges, alright?

"Plan on telling me what you dreamt about or do I have to molest it out of you?" he smirked, dumping his school bag onto the floor and kicking off his boots.

Grinning a bit, Naruto plopped down on his bed and took off his sneakers, "Well... I don't really know."

"You don't know?" the other male looked skeptical.

"I'm telling the truth! I remember as soon as I wake up, but then it fades away, no matter how hard I try to remember..." The blond laid back, not moving an inch when Hide Zou jumped onto the bed next to him and wrapped strong, warm arms around his waist. He smiled widely, loving how his boyfriend became like him on rare occasions. "It's strange. Once the memories are gone, I feel empty, but I'm shaking... And I don't even remember if the dream was scary or not."

"Maybe there's something wrong with your brain."

"What if it's a tumor?.!"

Hide Zou lifted his head and raised a pierced brow. "I doubt it's a tumor. Maybe your mind is a bit different from others. During REM sleep, you're always dreaming, but sometimes when you wake up, you don't remembere what you were dreaming about, you don't even know you were dreaming. Maybe you remember it when you wake up, but your mind slowly starts to erase it, like it usually does during sleep."

Naruto scrunched his nose up. "Maa, that just confused me. You suck at explaining things, ZouZou."

The taller teen smiled and pushed himself up, slinging a leg over Naruto's hips and straddling him. He bent down and licked a defined jaw. "Maybe I should suck some other things?"

Snickering, Naruto wrapped his arms around a slender neck. "You're a dork."

oOoOo

Around seven in the evening, Sakura and Hinata dropped by Naruto and Hide Zou's dorm room, dressed in their usual cute girly outfits. Of course, the pink-haired female was covered in various shades of pink and red, her hair just below her shoulders. Hinata had grown a lot during the previous year, having sprouted five inches. She was wearing very cute khaki shorts and a light purple sweater, her dark blue hair now down to mid-back.

"Naruto! Zou!" Sakura knocked on the dark green door, impatient as always. "I'm sure you can stop humping for a minute!" Beside her, Hinata blushed prettily. She leaned past her friend and knocked on the door next.

"N-Naruto-kun, Zou-kun, can we speak to you? P-please?" her voice was soft, as it always had been. She smiled sweetly when the door opened and Naruto stood in his pair of Pizza Hut boxers. His hair was messy (like always) and he grinned as a greeting.

"Hinata-chan! Sakura-chan! What brings you two lovely ladies here at such an ungodly hour?"

Sakura crossed her arms and snorted. "It's only seven, baka, and we're here to take you two on a little walk," her angry face immediately vanished and she flung herself at the blond, wrapping her slender arms around Naruto's. "A **ghost** walk," she added with an evil laugh.

Hinata gave her male friend a nervous look, wanting him to know she hadn't planned it; it was all the bubblegum-haired witch's fault! She made a 'meep' sound when Hide Zou came up from behind, already dressed in his clothes from earlier that day. He tossed a pair of jeans and an orange jacket to Naruto.

"A ghost walk sounds fun," he grinned, a look so similar to Sakura's that it was frightening. God, it made Naruto want to hide behind Ino, she'd protect him... Too bad his long time best friend was in Portugal. Damn her great grandmother for dying! Ok, he didn't mean that.

"B-But..." Naruto tried to come up with any excuse he could, hugging his clothes to his chest. He didn't want to say that he was scared. "I'm sure Hinata-chan would be scared to death!"

"Actually..." the quiet girl spoke up, a light blush staining her pale cheeks. "I-I'm fascinated b-by spirits. I'm n-not frightened by them at all..."

The blond looked around at all of the expecting eyes and he huffed, lowering his head in shame. "I'll admit that I'm scared... so could we please not go? Maybe we could go to McDonald's instead...?"

_Please say yes, please say yes, please say--_

"Nope," Sakura smiled.

REJECTED.

oOoOo

Even though the city was lit up with bright lights and bustling with life, Naruto still felt scared. He didn't understand, not one bit. He could be the bravest person when it came to things like climbing mountains, swimming through ocean currents, walking through the woods at night, and eating bad fish... but when it came to ghosts and demons, he'd become stiff with fear. He never felt that way through elementary or middle school and didn't know how it formed in high school. He'd never even thought much of spirits before.

"Quit being a baby!" Sakura turned and began walking backwards, Hinata saving her before she tripped over a fallen recycling bin. The female didn't even thank her, only twirled around and marched forward. Naruto noticed that they were heading out of the main part of the city, to the highway that led to the main bridge.

"Where exactly are we going?" Hide Zou asked, rubbing Naruto's back soothingly. He didn't want to have Naruto freak out, but he believed bringing his lover to wherever they were going would soothe his fear and show him that ghosts weren't real. Most Japanese people were into spirits and demons, but not him. He'd grown up in America his entire life and had been too busy keeping himself alive to even think about ghosts.

Sakura pulled a flashlight out from her purse and flicked it on, the light shining over the mangroves. They were getting closer to the coast, the sound of waves reaching their ears. "To the bottom of the coastline," she answered. "There's supposed to be an apparition of a little boy there, on top of the cliffs(1)."

"Then why not just go to the cliffs?"

"Ghosts don't show up when people are around, are you stupid?" Sakura motioned for them to follow her along the highway's rail. Cars zoomed by them, sprinkles of water from the rain puddles splashing against their legs, but they didn't notice, too indulged on their walk. Hinata kindly held back a mangrove branch for all of them, giving Naruto an apologetic look when he passed by.

The emerald-eyed college student began descending down rock-like steps, careful not to fall. "Watch your step here, they're slippery!" she warned and hopped down into the soft sand of the beach. Running down to the water, she flashed her light up at the tallest cliff, trying to catch a glimpse of a ghost. "Hinata, give Zou one! He has good eyes!"

Doing as she was told, the Hyuuga pulled a clear flashlight out of her own purse and handed it to the J-rocker. She noticed how Naruto seemed to panic when his boyfriend gave him a quick kiss before running down near Sakura too take a look at the high cliffs. Placing a small hand on his shoulder, she smiled.

"Th-there's no need to be afraid, Naruto-kun. Spirits can't h-hurt you," she tried to comfort him. "And I'm sure th-they wouldn't harm Zou-kun ei-either."

"Thanks..." Naruto mumbled, not all that convinced.

Hide Zou continued to flash the light at the cliffs, but sighed after a few minutes of finding nothing. Before he could turn the light off, a strong gust of wind blew over the beach and knocked it from his hand. It hit the ground and the glow went out, accompanied by Sakura's scream.

"Sakura?.!"

"I stepped in a bunch of seaweed!" the girl shrieked and quickly moved away from the water. As soon as she moved, she heard talking. Earing perking up at the sound, she turned, eyeing Hinata and Naruto. "Hey, what're you two mumbling about?"

"Wh-wha?" Hinata spoke up. "I d-didn't say anything."

"It's a ghost!" Naruto whined childishly. One would never guess he was a college student.

"It's not a ghost," Hide Zou countered. "It's probably just some people walking by on the side of the highway, above us."

Sakura flashed her light up at the railing, but saw no one. Slowly, she moved it toward the cliff and her emerald eyes widened, sparkling under the moonlight fluttering through the thick clouds. "G-Guys, look!" she pointed up at the very edge of the cliffs and everyone saw the outlines of two figures. One was very tall, the other short. The small one was being held over the ocean water, above the jagged stones.

Hinata unconsciously moved closer to Naruto, grasping his hand with hers. She didn't notice that the blond was completely frozen.

"This is what they say happens every night!" Sakura ran forward, wanting nothing more than to see the scene up close. Hide Zou followed her, but Hinata and Naruto stayed behind. "It started a year ago, people say!" she shouted so everyone could hear. "There was a sighting of winged creatures near Tokyo Tower, then apparitions started appearing in the woods by Naruto's old apartment, an abandoned home that was owned by a family known as Uchiha, and here!" she came to a stop once she couldn't go any further. The pitch black figures above were speaking, but she couldn't make out any words.

_It's not real... _Naruto told himself, but it was a hard task since the spirits were right there in front of him. He shook his head, pulling Hinata forward so they could get closer to the others. _No, it could just be people looking out over the ocean._

There was a shout from one of the shapes, then the small one was released. Its figure fell into the water. There was no splash, no sound of impact against the stones; nothing.

"What was...?" Hide Zou began, but Naruto cut him off.

"Please," he begged. "Let's go home. I don't want to be here anymore! I saw the stupid ghosts, now let's just leave!" he kept Hinata close to him, worried more about her than him. He might've been scared, but Hinata was easily scarred. She'd seen the figure fall and would probably have that image implanted in her mind forever.

"Yeah, let's get back to the campus..." Sakura trailed off. _Those __**had**__ to be ghosts..._

"Kinpatsu, are you ok?" Hide Zou approached his lover and pulled both him and Hinata against his warm chest, knowing the small girl was frightened from the scene. "What about you, Hinata?"

"I-I'm alright..." she lied politely, pulling away with a tiny smile. "I was j-just startled, that's all."

Naruto let himself be wrapped up in his boyfriend's warmth and he sighed. "I'm going to have nightmares for a month. You're going to have to deal with me sleeping in your bed," he mumbled.

Hide Zou smiled and ruffled soft, golden hair. "Come on, before Anko gives us hell for missing curfew."

They all began their trail back up the rocky steps and stepped onto the pavement of the highway. As they began their way home, Sakura talking animatedly about how she was going to call Ino and tell her what happened, Naruto snuggled against Hide Zou and glanced back at the cliffs, the black figures gone.

oOoOo

"I don't wanna go to class!" Naruto whined and thrashed around when his boyfriend yanked the covers off of their, now, shared bed. He twisted and rolled up into a ball, hugging the pillow Hide Zou used. "I'm soooo tired, ZouZou," he looked over at him with exhausted eyes. "Can't you let me skip one class? Just one? I couldn't get an ounce of sleep last night!"

"That's your fault," Hide Zou snickered and yanked Naruto up. "You had a nightmare and woke up, got bored, woke me up so you could sex your dreams away, then went to sleep and had another nightmare--"

"I got it, I got it," the blond huffed and got out of bed, not bothering to take a shower since he'd taken one the night before. Tugging on the clothes he'd sat out before bed, he yawned. "How come you're not tired? We went at it pretty long last night."

"Because, amazingly enough, I can sleep and give you an orgasm at the same time," the other male grinned and grabbed his schoolbag, already dressed and ready to go. "Now let's get going before Anko bursts in. She knows exactly when we're supposed to head to class and if we're not gone by then, she'll start yelling at us."

"Maa, coming," Naruto rubbed his eyes and slipped on his sneakers easily, following his lover out the door.

When they approached the building that held their Acting class, they noticed a large crowd of girls huddled around the main doors. Raising their brows in unison, Naruto and Hide Zou ran up to them, trying to see over their heads.

"What's everyone looking at?" Naruto shoved through the large group, squeels and giggles injuring his fragile ears. Making his way through, he tripped over a random girl's shoe and fell flat on his ass. Mumbling an 'itai' and rubbing his lower spine, he looked up, the warm sun being blocked by someone's body.

His clear blue eyes reflected the face of another male. One with obsisian eyes and raven hair that stuck up in the back. It reminded him of...

"... A duck butt..."

**(1)-You'll see why there are now apparitions in later chaps.**

**Hah! Guess who's back and guess how he came back! XD**


	2. You!

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, so yeah.**

**Sorry for the long wait, everyone. It's just been SUPER hot up here and the heat wouldn't allow me to work. My frickin' grandparents won't let me turn the air on for some dumb reason. Che, old people. Well, ne who, I hope there won't be long waits like these for every chapter... but if there is, blame the heat. Curse global warming.**

**I'm amazed at how many of you dislike Hide Zou. "He stole Naruto from Sasuke", "He's keeping Naruto and Sasuke from being together!" Not to be mean, but you guys have the most stupid reasons to hate him. He did NOTHING wrong. When he met Naruto, Sasuke didn't exist, so he didn't take anyone from anybody and he can't keep two people from being together if one of them is dead and non-existent.**

**I hope what I said doesn't keep you from reading the story, but I had to say it. I'm sure a lot of you agree with me.**

_Kyuubi stood in front of Sasuke, staring down at him with gleaming crimson eyes, his robes fluttering with the gust of wind that flooded the empty apartment. As he watched his used-to-be angel crumble under the pressure, his lips twitched, spreading wide, revealing his pearly white fangs. He held out a clawed hand, golden bangles jingling around his wrist, shimmering under the moonlight._

_"Do we have a deal?" he asked, clearly amused by the situation._

_Sasuke bit his bottom lip and lifted his face, his dark eyes full of determination. He reached forward and took the hand._

_"Yes."_

xXxXx

Hide Zou shoved his way through the crowd, trying to find Naruto. Spotting a puff of blond hair in the very center of the circle, he ducked under the mass of bodies and crawled through various sets of legs, making his way to his boyfriend. A girl squeeled when he popped up after going between her feet and hit him on the back of the head, sending him stumbling forward.

He barely kept his footing and glanced down to see his lover sitting on the ground, looking up at a raven-haired individual. It was like they were having a staring contest, but then Naruto blinked and slowly began to stand, blowing on the skin of his burning palms. He'd scraped them on the cement.

"Sorry for bumping into you," Naruto apologized quickly, rubbing his hands together in order to get rid of the burning.

The onyx-eyed male didn't reply, only kept his face blank. Hide Zou noticed that he was wearing a black trenchcoat, despite the warm weather and he could practically see sweat forming on his brows. Stepping forward, he spoke.

"Are you new?"

The boy didn't answer, only looked at him with dark eyes.

"Can you talk?" Naruto pressed on, amused with the situation.

The other furrowed his brows. "Yes, I can talk."

There was a sudden rush of whispers in the crowd, then various squeels and grunts of "hey!" as someone pushed their way through the thick mass of college students. Sakura popped out of large group and smiled widely to the new student.

"Sasuke-kun!" she chirped, skipping to him. The crowd around them groaned and people started heading off to class. They knew that they had no chance whatsoever with the handsome male if Sakura had gotten to him first. She was known around campus as the girl who was good at everything, and got everything. If she wanted the so named Sasuke, then they knew she'd probably get him.

Both Naruto and Hide Zou looked between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Oh," Hide Zou began. "Is this that guy you were talking about yesterday? The really hot new guy?"

The pink-haired female nodded and smiled. "Unfortunately, he's not my type. Too quiet, you know? I go for the loud and-- hey! Sasuke-kun, where are you going?" she asked the raven who just left them to head into the science building. He opened the large doors just as the large campus clock struck twelve, and disappeared.

As the raven went into the building, he sighed. He mentally yelled at himself for freezing when he saw Naruto. He didn't even know they had any of the same classes and he hadn't seen the blond in a few months, and now that he could actually touch him and talk to him... Shaking his head, he went to class, telling himself he wouldn't freeze from shock again.

"How rude," Hide Zou scoffed, also annoyed that they were now late. It wouldn't have been so bad if they were late because he'd molested Naruto against his will, but to have that mark on his record for no good reason, that bothered him. "He might be good looking, but he sure is an asshole."

"Like you were when we first met?" Naruto grinned and waltzed past his boyfriend and friend, opening the heavy doors to the building in front of them. Sasuke had gone through those doors, so that meant they had the same class together, since there was only one science class in the building on thursdays.

Hide Zou and Sakura chased after him, not wanting to have their sensei yell at them because of their lateness.

"I was **not **an ass, I'll have you know, I just had family issues at the time."

Sakura and Naruto laughed, but their bubbles of joy popped when their classroom door opened and slammed against the tan wall of the hallway, their teacher stepping out with an annoyed look on his face, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Naruto, Sakura..." he turned to glare at Hide Zou, "Hirosuke."

The student flinched. "You sound like my dad, Iruka-sensei," he whined. "Why can't you call me Hide Zou? Or Zou, like everyone else?"

"Because I'm not everyone else, I'm your teacher," the tan man crossed his arms and sighed, clearly bothered by something other than their tardiness. "I want you all to go take your seats, and Sakura, watch over the class while I'm gone. I have to go get copies of our assignment from the lounge."

"Hai, sensei," she said eagerly, loving the power she had when watching the huge number of students that made up the science class. She ran into the room, an evil grin on her face. Behind her, her friends entered slowly, greeting a few of their buddies with small waves or how Hide Zou did it, with a cocky smirk and two-fingered salute.

Naruto tossed his bright orange bag down by his corner seat in the very back, only then noticing the pair of shoes under the desk. He blinked at them, then glared. Someone had taken his favorite seat! Snapping his head back, he opened his mouth to yell, but his words failed him when he saw that it was Sasuke sitting in his chair.

"You... you!" the blond screeched, pointing. "That's **my **seat!"

Sasuke, for the first time, let a smirk slip across his face. He leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head, looking a lot more bastard-ish than when they'd met a few minutes before. Something had definitely changed and Naruto didn't like it, not one bit.

"I didn't see your name on it, Dobe," the student let his smirk widen and Naruto stood there, mouth open. Oh. No. He. Didn't.

"Who're you calling a dobe? Huh?.! I'll beat that smirk right off of your pretty boy face!" the blond held up a clenched fist and Sakura yelled at him from Iruka's podium at the very front of the classroom.

"Sit somewhere else, Naruto! We don't have assigned seats!"

"But--"

"Sit somewhere else!" she growled.

The students in the classroom snickered and turned to watch the scene play out. Naruto huffed and glared at Sasuke before moving himself and his orange bag to the next seat over. He plopped down and folded his arms over his chest, pissed. How dare someone take his favorite seat, the one he had dubbed his since the first day of class?

Hide Zou, who had been standing behind his boyfriend, chuckled and sat next to him, leaning forward to see Sasuke. He was surprised to see something in those black orbs... something akin to... hope? But what would he be hoping for? He shrugged, thinking that he probably just read the look wrong.

"Oi, Sasuke."

The raven turned.

"I like you."

Naruto almost fell out of his seat, but managed to catch himself. "You what?.!"

"Not that way, Kinpatsu," his lover snickered. "I meant he's cool and I'd like to hang with him. That sort of like."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the two. "Why would you want to hang out with him? He's a complete asshole... and he stole my seat!" he groaned when he realized that Hide Zou wasn't going to listen to him no matter what he said. Che, shows how much he loves him. Stupid boyfriend.

"Ignore him, he thinks everyone's out to get him. He gets extremely paranoid sometimes," Hide Zou stated with a wave of his hand. "But you'll get used to it," he grinned. "Hey, how about this? You come with us after class to the cafe just outside of campus? We go there every once and a while to hang out with our friends. It'd be a good way for you to make some longlasting pals. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for you to make friends, though, since you were swarmed by all of those girls."

"You're not even that hot," Naruto snorted, still angry about his seat being taken.

Sasuke smirked. "I'd love to join you both after class."

Hide Zou grinned.

Naruto whined.

xXxXx

Class was almost over and Sasuke sat there, watching the red hand of the clock go around, his class work having already been done with. He let his eyes wander to Iruka, wondering how the man had become a college teacher. He'd have to make a mental note to tell Kakashi, since the silver-haired male would probably love to hear about how his dolphin-chan was doing.

His fingers unconsciously uncurled themselves from around his mechanical pencil and he turned slightly, getting a good glance at Naruto's face. The blond's nose was scrunched up in thought and he licked the corner of his lips, jotting a formula down, letting out a quiet triumphant "whoop!". It seemed as if he and Hide Zou were the only one who noticed, the taller male laughing and whispering something to his lover.

Naruto blushed and whispered something back, smiling beautifully.

Sasuke felt his stomach drop and his heart flutter. He wanted that smile to be for him again, to be just for him and no one else. But he didn't make the deal with Kyuubi so he could steal Naruto from his current love... No, Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't take him from the other man. He'd make sure the blond came to him of his own free will.

xXxXx

_"Good," Kyuubi chuckled richly. "You have exactly one year to get him to fall in love with you. If you fail, you will be sent to Hell. If you succeed, I will let you keep your body and you will be able to stay with him until your false body gives out," he smirked. "It will be hard since he's in love with someone else at the moment, don't you think?"_

_Sasuke pulled his hand back and looked down at it. It was firm... he could feel the chilly air in the apartment, could feel the warmth of his own skin. He was no longer transparent, no longer just a spirit._

_"There are no restrictions on what you may do to make him fall in love with you," Kyuubi held down a feral laugh. "Mainly because Shukaku and I believe it will be harder for you to set your own boundaries. One wrong move and your chances will shatter like glass."_

_Sasuke clenched his fists, feeling the pain of his nails digging into his palms. "I'll be able to do it," he whispered to himself._

_"Enjoy life, Sasuke," the angel laughed deeply before spreading his blood red wings and taking flight._

xXxXx

And Sasuke did set his own boundaries, not wanting to make any mistakes. He wouldn't try to steal Naruto away from Hide Zou because then that would cause huge problems and there was no way the blond would fall in love with someone who was trying to break up his current relationship. He also wouldn't just blab out the things that happened between them in the past, for that would freak his dobe out and he'd think Sasuke was crazy. He'd let himself drop hints and use items and words to try to bring back Naruto's memory, but that was it.

Still watching Naruto and Hide Zou whisper and quietly laugh with each other, Sasuke furrowed his brows. He was surprised that he was, in no way, jealous of them. He wasn't like other guys who would get pissed off if the person they loved was with another.

He was happy for Naruto.

Happy that he was able to find someone who loved him just as much as he did.

He realized then that his plan was going to be harder than he thought. He would have to find a way to make Naruto fall harder for him than Hide Zou, without flirting or hitting on him. The blond fell in love with him once before, so it could definitely happen again with the right actions.

Sasuke would just have to be everything that Naruto had loved before, he'd have to say the right things, and he'd have to bring back his memories...

He could do it, he knew he could.

"What's with the look?" Naruto asked once he noticed Sasuke's furrowed brows. "Are you a homophobe?"

Caught off guard, Sasuke shook his head. "No, I happen to like men, myself," he admitted. A good way to start would be to share his sexuality.

"Another fag, hmm?" Sakura turned in her seat in front of them and smiled. "Then you're definitely not my type."

Another few minutes passed where Sasuke listened to them all converse, only throwing in his own comments every once and a while, where it seemed appropriate. Sakura talked about Ino coming back from Portugal on Saturday, Naruto mentioned wanting to get a vanilla latte at the cafe, and Hide Zou was hardly paying attention, a pair of headphones slung around his neck, some Unsraw(1) blaring.

Iruka scanned over all of his students, his bad mood gone. He coughed into his hand, catching everyone's attention. "Class is dismissed. Remember to do your homework or you'll be punished severely," he said with a smile. The students laughed nervously and put away their books and classwork, happy to have their freedom before their next classes.

Sakura lifted up her baby pink bag and walked down the rows of rough, carpeted steps. "So," she started as she reached the door. "Who all's gonna be at Zeppelin?"

Hide Zou pulled out a cigarette from his back pocket and a lighter from his front pocket, lighting it quickly. He never smoked in the morning, basically because of some superstition of his. He believed that if he put a cigarette between his lips before noon, then he'd lose Naruto. He'd been a strong smoker before he met Naruto, and when he'd tried to cut down to just a few every afternoon. he'd met the troublesome teen. So if he started smoking in the morning again, then he'd lose the blond. His highschool friends had told him he was stupid, but he definitely wasn't going to take any chances.

"Kiba, Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kankuro," he answered, blowing a puff of smoke into the air as they went outside. Sasuke walked between Naruto and Sakura, content with just listening.

"You don't talk much," Naruto commented suddenly, crossing his arms behind his head. "Not that I care if you have anything to say," he grinned. "Since you're an asshole and all."

Sasuke let himself smirk, feeling like this was old times. "Yes, well, you talk **too** much, Dobe. You don't know when to shut up."

The blond glared and was about to retort, but Sakura sent him a look. He snapped his mouth shut and huffed, being laughed at by his boyfriend, who wrapped an around around his waist, whispering something into his ear. When Naruto blushed, Sasuke tried to get closer so he could hear.

"Hell no!" Naruto shrieked. "We're not having a threesome with him!"

Sakura giggled and tugged Sasuke up front with her, telling him he'd get used to them. "Such great friends we have, ne, Sasuke-kun? They could keep us entertained for **hours**," she smiled. "Now, let's get going! Delicious cakes and coffee awaits us!"

xXxXx

Kiba raised a brow at the new member of the group, seeing how Naruto didn't even want anything to really do with him. The blond sat between Hide Zou and Temari, staying as far away from the raven as possible. Kiba laughed at that and took a sip of the coffee he'd ordered twenty minutes before the arrival of his friends.

"Who's the new guy?" Temari whispered to Sakura. "He's pretty hot."

"Sucks for you, then," the pink-haired girl snickered. "He likes dick."

Sasuke heard the comment and frowned, _ What a vulgar way to put it_.

Kiba leaned forward in his seat, his arm around Hinata's shoulders. They'd been going out since the beginning of summer, after a drunk Naruto had gotten a hold of Hinata's diary and had shared it with everyone during their school's football aftergame party. Hinata was too kind to be angry, but she was absolutely embarrassed and had cried her eyes out, but Kiba had comforted her and their relationship had grown from then on.

God bless that girl's heart, though, for she never did blame Naruto, since he was completely drunk that night.

"You must be that guy Sakura was talking about. Um... Sasu--something?" Kiba started.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Suddenly, the table became quiet, except for Shikamaru's quiet snoring, his face smooshed against the table, his mouth open. Kankuro looked between everyone, confused as to why they were all staring at the new member of their group.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Kiba repeated. "You're that guy that was supposed to marry Naruto!.!" everyone in the cafe looked his way, whispering to each other, then rolling their eyes and going back to their lunches.

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, _How does he remember that?_

"Dude, you fuckin' owe me five-hundred bucks! That was part of my college money, man!" Kiba growled.

"K-Kiba-kun," Hinata stuttered, placing her small hands on his shoulders to keep him in his seat. "I'm sure h-he doesn't know wh-what you're even talking about..."

Temari laughed to the point of tears. "**You're** that guy?.!"

Naruto blushed, then glared at Sasuke, his eyes dark despite their baby blue color. "You're the one who called that restuarant?.! What kind of sick joke was that, huh?.! What are you, some sort of stalker that's been following me since highschool?.! Is that why I felt like I was always being watched in my old apartment? Eww, you're a stalker! A sick, twisted pervert!"

Hide Zou tried to calm his lover down, while Sakura and Temari laughed and everyone else snickered.

Sasuke sighed.

Not even age could change the fact that Naruto was an idiot.

**(1)-Unsraw is a pretty awesome Jrock back. Lots of screaming and orgasmic sounds XD**

**Please review! Please? I'll love you forever. :Hugs:**


	3. No Matter What

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wanna know why? Too bad.**

**Gah, another long wait. Please forgive me! It's just... I had to spend time taking care of a baby bunny I found... but then, unfortunately, she died last night. I was crying so much that I made myself sick. To think that she was just there in the morning and hopping around... then she just suddenly got ill and died in a horribly painful way... Ehh, I don't wanna talk about.**

**I'm so depressed, but this chapter seems so full of humor XD**

Naruto glared at Sasuke, his lips in a tight line as Hide Zou sung a little tune about self control and love. Apparently, he was some sort of Japanese hippie...? The raven didn't think much on it; instead, he focused on Kiba's blubbering, drowning out Hinata and Sakura's giggles. Temari just rolled her eyes and slapped Shikamaru on the back of the head, so he'd wake up.

"Oi..." the pineapple-headed college student mumbled in annoyance, swatting at the offending hand. He blinked open slanted eyed, then stretched, eyeing everyone as if they had arms sprouting from their heads. "What's going on?" he asked, wiping drool from his chin.

"That little shit owes me five-hundred bucks!" Kiba hollered as he stood, pointing at Sasuke. Almost everyone in the cafe was looking at the scene he was creating, causing him to fall back into his chair and blush like a little virgin. He cleared his throat and darted his eyes around, as if expecting everyone around their table to burst out laughing.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru scratched his scalp, yawning while doing so. Beside him, Temari crossed her arms and snorted.

"Duck Butt's apparently the guy who was supposed to marry Blondie," she snickered. "Surprise, surprise, hm?" she nudged his arm and he shuffled away, lifting up his hot tea (which wasn't so hot anymore). She leaned back in her chair and fiddled with a strand of her dark gold hair. "So, Duck Butt--"

"It's Sasuke," the raven hissed. He never liked the woman's cocky attitude.

"No, it's gonna be Duck Butt," she smirked. "So, Duck Butt," she began her sentence again, "What made you decide to stalk Blondie? He's not that great of a catch, you could've done so much better. If I were you, I would've gone for someone that wasn't such a pussy."

"Hey!" Naruto growled. "I'm not a pussy, I'm just... sensitive to certain things!"

"He's afraid of ghosts," Hide Zou spoke up.

Naruto spun around and decked his boyfriend on the head. "Did I ask for your comment?.!"

"U-Um, excuse me," one of the waitresses raised her hand. She stood right behind Sakura, a little nervous since she'd never dealt with any violent customers before. Almost quietly, he continued once Sakura yelled for everyone to hush. "M-my manager says that you're dissrupting the peace... so I'm going to have to ask you to please leave," tears welled up in her eyes and her bottom lip quivered, as if she were facing the most frightening beast. "Please forgive me!" she bowed, her long ponytails reaching her ankles.

The cafe suddenly became quiet, the only sound being that of the cashier mumbling curses in French.

Then Temari broke the silence with her laughter, finding the whole situation hilarious. She yanked out her camera phone and took a picture, her little Edward Elric cellphone keychain swinging back and forth across her knuckles(1). "Kodak moment!"

Everyone scowled at her (except for Hinata) as they stood up from their seats and said their apologies to the scaredy cat of a waitress. They left the cafe with Temari trailing behind, taking even more pictures that she'd definitely stick on her myspace.

"This is all your fault!" Kiba pinned the blame on Sasuke, even though the Uchiha had only said one word the entire time. "If you wouldn't have been such a freaky-ass stalker, then we wouldn't be in this mess?"

"What mess?" Sakura crossed her arms and frowned. "We just got kicked out of Zeppelin because **you** and **Naruto** were being too loud! Sasuke-kun didn't do anything wrong."

Hide Zou placed a hand on his stomach and groaned. "I'm sooo hungry, guys."

"Let's find somewhere else to eat," Shikamaru folded his arms behind his head and headed off in another direction, followed by an amused Temari and quiet Kankuro. He'd been too busy playing his Nintendo DS, so his friends really hadn't noticed him the last few minutes in the cafe.

"Nah, you guys go ahead, we're going to go check out Sasuke's dorm room," Hide Zou told them, not waiting for their replies before heading off to the college campus. Kiba kissed Hinata on the cheek before following after the other group.

"You still owe me five-hundred bucks, Uchiha! I expect the money in cash by next week!" he shook his fist.

Sasuke rolled his eyed and shoved his hands in his pockets, the cool breeze chilling his thin fingers. Storm clouds started rolling in, gusts of when more often, the sun disappearing behind sheets of puffy grey. As he stayed behind everyone else, he noticed how Naruto kept throwing him dirty looks.

Even though he knew it was now going to be a hell of a lot harder to get the blond to fall back in love with him, he embraced the thought with an amused smirk. He had confidence in himself, he knew he'd win the young man's heart. After all, he was an Uchiha.

Sakura stopped her quick pace and waited for Sasuke to reach her side, then wrapped her hands around his frail, pale wrist, tugging it out of his pocket. She moved his arm and pointed his thumb to the Tokyo Tower. "Do you see that? We're heading there tonight for another ghost hunt. Sorry, but you missed the first one," she smiled, her glossy lips a pale pink. "It'll just be me, Naruto, Zou, and Hinata. You wanna go? Be joyful that we're accepting you into our little group."

Naruto stopped walking, his body becoming stiff. Sasuke avoided colliding with him by stepping to the right, shoving Sakura off of the sidewalk a bit, causing her to yell at Naruto with her fist swinging. The raven assumed that he'd stopped because he was opposed to letting him into their group, but then turned and saw the look of fear on the blond's face.

"Naruto?" he asked, concerned. Hide Zou shook his boyfriend and rubbed his cheek with his thumb to draw his attention away from the looming tower in the distance. The blond finally blinked his seemingly glazed over eyes and smiled reassuringly.

"Ah, sorry. I zoned out there for a second... but..." he snapped his head toward Sakura and gave her a kicked puppy look. "Do we really have to go there? Wasn't one ghost hunt enough, Sakura-chan?" he whined childishly, but Sasuke knew it was real fear coursing through his ex-lover's veins.

_Even though he doesn't remember what happened there, he remembers the emotions attached to it... _Sasuke furrowed his brows. _That's common in amnesia and such... maybe I have a better chance in regaining his memories than I thought. If I can just strengthen those feelings inside of him--_

"I don't wanna!"

"Don't be such a girl, Naruto!" Sakura bopped him on the head and snatched him from Hide Zou, who whined at the loss of warmth. She dragged him down the sidewalk and bypassed the entrance to the college grounds, causing Hinata to squeak and mumble quietly about missing the gates.

"We're not going back yet, Hinata!" the pink-haired grinned like a demon. "Since we probably wouldn't be able to get this wussy out from his dorm if we went home, we're going straight to Tokyo Tower!" she tugged behind her a whimpering blond.

Sasuke, both amused and disturbed by the new side of Sakura (he'd only seen the tag along of Ino), followed behind them, walking in step with Hinata and Hide Zou. He looked up at the taller male and saw him biting his lip ring nervously, his fingertips brushing against a silver chain looped around his neck. Now that he thought about it, it matched the necklace he just barely saw underneath Naruto's shirt collar earlier that day.

"Z-Zou-kun," Hinata spoke up, leaning forward so she could see him around Sasuke. "You sh-shouldn't be worried about Naruto-kun... I-I'm sure Sakura wouldn't do anything to scare him t-too badly."

"Yeah..." Hide Zou ran his ringed fingers through his black and red hair, not running into any tangles. He was too worried about his boyfriend to even notice the loud rumbling of his empty stomach, and Sasuke envied him for being so caring. For being able to voice his worry for the blond, unlike himself.

xXxXx

By the time they arrived at the tower, their legs were tired and the sun was setting behind the large skyscrapers. The people surrounding the area were laughing and dancing to the stereo a Japanese "gangsta" had on his shoulder. He was one of those very few old school Tokyo teens, his clothes colorful and extremely baggy. All of the dancers were shoved aside, though, by an excited Sakura, who dragged a flailing Naruto up the steps with her.

"Lemme go!"

"Just shut your mouth and act like the grown man you are!"

"I hate you, you're a bitch, I hope you die of lung cancer from all of that icky perfume you wear!" the blond was dropped down on the first step of the second flight and was thoroughly drop kicked by a furious girl. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Hinata sighed lightly and scurried up the steps, helping Naruto off of the ground before Sakura could kick him in the head. She told the other female to behave and Sakura scrunched her nose up before marching further up the tower, ordering Hinata to bring Naruto up, as well.

Hide Zou chuckled breathily. "That girl's one fine example of why I like dick. What about you, Sasuke?"

The raven was snapped out of his thoughts by the simple question. It was funny how the other man's hushed voice could bring him out of a stupor, but the annoying shrieks from Naruto and Sakura couldn't. Maybe he'd become immune during the days he was with them?

"Any memories on why you turned gay? Well, you don't really turn gay, you're sort of born that way... but what made you realize it?" Hide Zou asked, curious.

Sasuke's calm face shifted into a scrunched one when he thought about his first real encounter with a female. He'd been put in an all boys pre-school and had never really seen any members of the opposite sex, but when he'd gone grocery shopping with his mother and older brother, he'd met one for the first time.

xXxXx flashback xXxXx

_A little Sasuke held the hand of his big brother, a cute smile on his chubby face as they walked through the frozen food aisle. He tugged his hand away quickly and scurried over to the freezer that held a lonely box of his favorite cherry screwballs, licking his already moist lips and tracing the door's handle with his fingers._

_"Aniki! I want--" before he could finish, he was shoved aside by a smaller girl with short black hair in messy pigtails. The little scrunchies holding them up had faces of cheery frogs and lizards on them, and as she reached into the freeze to grab the last box of screwballs, they seemed to open their mouths and laugh at him._

_He puffed his cheeks out and clenched his fists, angry with this... this... female!_

_"Exwuse me!" he yelled with a squeaky voice. "I was thewe fiwst! That's my icecweam!"_

_The girl turned and gave him an angry pout, similar to his. Her cheeks were a rosy red and her dark eyes were outlined with glitters, probably from the new American barbie doll that was released not that long ago. It came with lip gloss and eye glitter... ouch._

_"Sorry," she said rudely. "But it's mine now."_

_"My icecweam!" Sasuke whined and went to grab it, but the little girl slammed the freezer door into his face and took off, giggling and holding up the box of screwballs to her father, who took it and sat it atop the conveyer belt at the register._

_Tears in his eyes and a red blotch on his forehead, Sasuke vowed to never like a female; EVER!_

xXxXx end flashback xXxXx

Hide Zou was laughing so hard that tears sprung to his eyes and he almost choked on his own saliva, his piercings shining under the lights of the tower as they approached the top. Sasuke's thoughts on his memories slipped away and he became more focused on what Naruto's reaction would be once they arrived at the very top. All he knew was that Kakashi was up there and he might have some advice on how to retrieve all of the blond's memories.

"Th-that was priceless!" Hide Zou chuckled and wiped away his tears of laughter.

Wanting to pass the time with something other than his stupid childhood memories, he decided to bring up the topic of the Jrocker and Naruto's relationship. He wanted to know exactly how close they were.

"Now I want to ask you something. It's only right; an eye for an eye," he spoke up. "How close are you and Naruto?"

Hide Zou blinked, then wiggled his eyebrows. "Why do you wanna know? Trying to steal him from me, Ninki no aru-san (Mr. Popular)?" he grinned.

Sasuke tried to make his face emotionless. "No, I'm only curious. I find you two to be an odd couple."

"How so?"

"You don't seem very attached to him."

The taller of the two frowned and gave Sasuke a look over before crossing his arms and letting a small smile cross his pierced lips. "That's the exact opposite, Sasuke. It may seem like I'm to loose on restrictions with him, or that I don't care what he does or doesn't do... but that's not true. I don't set many boundries because, well..." he scratched the back of his neck. "To be honest, Kinpatsu's like a wild bird. If you keep him caged, he loses the strength in his wings and the dream of someday flying in the skies again..."

Sasuke let his eyes only widen a fraction.

"So if I keep him tied down, he can't be free to follow his dreams and we'll both wind up with a broken relationship. In a way... it'd be abuse on my part, you know? And my being too submissive with what his goals actually are, not telling him 'no' or 'that's too dangerous'... really, there'd be no point in telling him that, scorning him. There's no way I'd be able to stop him, so why even try?" he laughed and smiled. "Besides, if you keep trying to keep a wild bird from the skies, you're only going to get bitten. Why tie him down and have him hate me when I could let him be happy and keep him with me?"

The raven closed his mouth, his words dying in his throat.

_He understands Naruto more than I do... What exactly was I doing when we were together? Binding him down to me just because I didn't have enough time? He thought he needed to stay with me because he really thought everything was his fault... And I didn't say anything about it, really. I only told him it wasn't his fault, once. I should've told him more than that and he wouldn't have felt so responsible... God, what exactly was our relationship?_

As they got to the very top, Sasuke watched Naruto's frantic movements and darting eyes.

_Just a screwed up form of guilt, childhood love, memories, and responsibility..._

Sasuke clutched his fists.

_Was that all it was? _

"Naruto, do you feel that? There's a cold spot right where you're standing," Sakura waved her hand around his face and grinned, but the blond didn't find it funny at all. He grasped his chest and seemed to begin hypervenilating, his pupils contracting within his eyes. "Naruto...?" she lowered her hand and stepped forward.

Naruto swallowed thickly, not understanding what was going on. He felt extremely cold and he couldn't move very well, as if he was jammed into a tight space. He stumbled back and blinked, then looked up to where he heard Sakura voice. It was far away, as if she were miles ahead of him. He lifted his eyes and he saw a man with long orange hair and crimson eyes, staring back at him with a feral grin and menacing stance.

_"Give me all of your memories of Sasuke,"_ the figure drawled.

The blond backed up, his back hitting something warm. He turned sharply and saw another man with shaggy sand-colored hair staring down at him with penetrating hazel eyes. Trying to yank away, Naruto yelled and kicked.

Outside of Naruto's illusions, Hide Zou tried to hold onto his boyfriend from behind, keeping his arms down and trying to make him calm down. "What's wrong?.!" he whispered loudly into Naruto's ear.

But in Naruto's current reality, that whisper was converted into, _"Give me all of your memories of him and I'll give him his life back."_

The blond cried out in anguish and pushed himself as far away from Kyuubi as possible, slamming the vision of Shukaku against the railing. He then began to thrash.

"Bring who back to life?.!" he shouted.

Sasuke ran to Naruto, but was stopped by the transparent frame of Kakashi. The scarecrow's form seemed pixelated and fuzzy, but Sasuke knew it was him. "Kakashi-sensei..."

Naruto shoved back against Shukaku as hard as he could and the angel slipped over the railing, his grasp on the younger male slipping as he fell. And as Naruto looked over the railing, his mind cleared and instead of the angel, he saw Hide Zou falling to his death. His eyes widened.

_"Now you're going to lose something important to you, for nothing at all."_

Those words were on repeat in his mind and everything came flooding to him.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke, his expression serious. "Spread your wings, Sasuke, I know you have them."

Nodding slowly, Sasuke ran past everyone and shrugged off his trenchcoat, his black wings spreading as he leaped over the rail. As he did so, his dark eyes melted into blood red and three small wheels churned within his irises, creating an illusion of complete darkness so no one would see what was going on.

He flapped his large wings, black feathers fluttering from them and disappearing into the darkness. He swooped down and grabbed Hide Zou by the waist, knowing that the man couldn't see him in the pitch black world.

Naruto stood still, consumed by the endless blackness. He stared at nothing, the vision of Sasuke's midnight black wings still fresh in his mind.

_"Now you're going to lose something important to you, for nothing at all."_

His lips twitched and he fell to his knees, his mind exhausted and fatigued.

"The joke's on you... because Sasuke's back..." he smiled tiredly and fell back, his head hitting the metal of the tower floor. "I gave you my memories... but guess what? I got those back... **and** Sasuke," he grinned to himself and tears slipped from his eyes as he fell into a deep sleep. "Teme..."

Sasuke landed back on top of the tower and sat Hide Zou down, releasing the illusion and letting his eyes go back to their original hue. He quickly pressed a hand to the male's forehead, then to Hinata and Sakura's, who were babbling and crying in fright of what just happened.

"You'll forget when you wake up," he told them, then gently cradled them in his arms when they collapses against them. Lying them down next to Hide Zou's fallen body, he spared a glance at Naruto, who was also asleep.

He'd heard his words before he'd fallen into dreamland. Smiling, he stood up straight, but Kakashi immediately shut down his happiness.

"You shouldn't smile, Sasuke, everything will be erased once he wakes up."

Sasuke turned and gave Kakashi a pained expression. "I just thought that... but he said he--"

"I know why you're back. Kyuubi made you a deal, correct?" the silver-haired spirit scoffed. "He made the same exact pact with a friend of mine; Obito. But do you know what the problem is with the deal? No matter how many memories the person gains within the day, they're all erased once they fall asleep."

Sasuke froze.

"In other words, there's no way Naruto will remember you for longer than a day."

**(1) Hah, Temari's voice actor in Japanese is the same woman who does the Jap voice of Edward Elric... even though I don't like the Japanese voices for Fullmetal Alchemist, I just thought I'd stick it in there XD**

**Um... this chap was funny... and then full of drama. Sorry:Sweatdrop: Um, didn't edit it either.**


	4. Only In Our Dreams

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**OMG, I saw PoTC: AWE last night:Hearts: It was so good! I even got tickets for the better of the premiere shows XD**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY GHETTO ICE PRINCESS!.!.!.! THIS CHAP'S DEDICATED TO YOU!**

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he sat up in bed, his head throbbing for some unknown reason. His vision was fuzzy, the room he was in looking like some sort of mirrored fun house, figures walking in front of him in the form of a blobs. He blinked rapidly, the focus coming back, watching as the blurry outline of Sasuke became clear.

The raven was pacing, his dark eyes full of various emotions that the blond couldn't put a finger on. His palms were being rubbed together as if in worry, his usually shiny hair dull and limp around his well-sculpted face. Naruto shifted in the bed and leaned forward, watching with intrigue.

"Hey, where am I?" he suddenly asked, not the least bit afraid of being in someone else's home. During his first few months at college, he'd been to many parties and, like most partygoers, had gotten extremely drunk and had passed out in the bathroom. He'd almost always wake up the next morning in one of his friend's rooms. Luckily for him, none of his drunken fiascos ended up in sex.

Sasuke looked up sharply, immediately going over to the bed and bending down so he could see the scrapes on the other male's arms. Naruto gave him a confused look and yanked his arms away, not very fond of being touched by the bastard. He looked down and his mouth opened slightly in surprise when he saw the small wounds caked with blood. The band-aids covering them had been poorly put on and were no longer sticking to his flesh too well.

"What the hell happened?.! Where did these come from?.!" He hollered, his voice cracking. Sasuke scowled and shook his head to rid himself of the ringing in his ears, slapping a hand over the dobe's mouth. He gave him a firm stare, and then nodded his head toward the other dorm bed, Hide Zou sleeping peacefully under cotton covers.

Naruto looked at his boyfriend in worry.

"He's fine," Sasuke reassured him. "You don't remember what happened last night, do you?" his voice wavered with sadness, but Naruto didn't notice, too confused and worried. He didn't remember anything past the café incident, nothing at all.

"Not really…" Naruto rubbed his temples and looked down at his covered lap, trying to think back to the previous day.

"We were coming back to campus and you slipped down the steps that led to the front court. Hide Zou managed to grab onto your arm, but then he fell as well. You two are lucky, no major wounds, just scratches," Sasuke lied trough gritted teeth.

He wanted to tell the truth, wanted to say that he got the injuries when he tried to protect himself from his hallucinations; that he injured his head when he collapsed. But even if he did tell the blond, he wouldn't remember and definitely wouldn't believe him.

Naruto looked at Hide Zou, then at Sasuke, smiling. "Thanks for fixing us up. I guess you're not such a teme after all... but I still hate you," he grinned, laughing.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the word "teme", thinking that some of the memories were unconsciously in his mind. Before he could speak, his dorm room was shoved open and a cursing Sakura stumbled in, along with a quiet (but worried) Hinata. They both came in, the pink-haired girl shifting looks between all three males.

"How come I don't remember yesterday?.!" she shouted.

"I-I don't remember anything, either..." Hinata added softly, hands clasped in front of her.

Sasuke inwardly cursed and walked over to them, having forgotten about finding an excuse for them. He couldn't just say that they fell, too. So he did the only thing he could do, use his Sharingan. His eyes melted into red and the wheels in his irises rotated around his tiny pupil, causing the room to fade into black and everyone's bodies to freeze.

He was lucky that Kyuubi had granted him his wings back, as well as his Sharingan. Before he'd come to the college, he'd spent a couple of days practicing with his eyes, learning mostly every technique they could pull. One of them included false memories. But unfortunately, he couldn't use it to implant memories into Naruto's head.

Staring into Sakura's eyes first, he filled in the blanks in her mind, then did the same for Hinata. He'd already filled Hide Zou in when he'd woken up during the middle of the night for, well, a glass of water.

His wheels churned again and he rewinded time, back to when both Sakura and Hinata came into the room. He let his eyes dissolve back into their original color, then watched as the two females came into the dorm room, Sakura not looking as irritated as before.

"I'm so glad you're ok! You fell pretty hard!" Sakura went to Naruto's side and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, rubbing her soft cheek against his. She then went to Hide Zou and looked down at his snoring form with a frown. "Well, it looks like he's just fine and dandy."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, we're both doing fine thanks to Sasuke-teme. He's ok for a stuck-up prick."

Hinata giggled.

Sakura snorted.

Sasuke scowled and threw his T.V. remote at the blond's head, immediately knocking him out.

xXxXx

Sasuke walked up the steps of the Tokyo Tower by himself, the rest of the group back on campus studying for a test. He'd taken the oppurtunity to slip away and pay a visit to Kakashi, hoping to tell him about Iruka being his teacher and such. Reaching the very top, he walked past a few businessmen who were conversing about their clients, and leaned against the railing at the very far end of the tower.

Kakashi was beside him, staring at him with eyes dull, yet full of amusement. Even when bound down for eternity, Hatake Kakashi was a cheerful man. He smiled underneath his mask and began the conversation first.

"Regaining his memories is completely seperate from your objective," he stated. "You want him to fall in love with you, ne? You don't need memories to do that. He fell in love with you once, I'm positive it will happen again."

The raven snorted and crossed his arms, keeping his voice low so no one would hear him. "He has a lover who he's very serious about, and despite me really wanting him back, I don't think I'll be able to break off their relationship. Don't say that I'm giving up because I'm not," he glared at the man, but then sighed and gave him a soft look.

Kakashi raised a brow. "What's with that expression?"

"Iruka's one of my college teachers."

The scarecrow chuckled. "So he did get that job afterall... He got a call from the college the day I was bound here and he never got the chance to tell me if they accepted him or not," he smiled once again. "I'm happy for him."

"If you want, I could somehow bring him up here so you could see him again," Sasuke offered, but the silver-haired man shook his head with a low chuckle.

"It's best to leave him to his life. I'm also getting used to eternity here and I don't want to ruin my progress by seeing his face. If I let myself forget his smile, his eyes... then that would make me happy."

Sasuke looked over at his sensei, wondering if that would've been him if he'd stayed in that god forsaken apartment, alone with only himself and his thoughts. He shook his head to rid himself of the thought and pushed forward from the railing, an officer having come up to tell him the tower was about to close.

"Forgetting him would make you happy?" he asked Kakashi.

"Forgetting me made Iruka happy, didn't it?" the spirit answered with dull amusement.

The raven bid his farewell and began going down the steps, only to see Naruto and Hide Zou right at the bottom, wearing thin coats to keep them warm in the chilly night air. The blond was being held by strong arms, a pair of lips running down his exposed neck as he ran his own hands down Hide Zou's sides. Despite himself, Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.

"What're you two doing here?" he asked, not too bothered by their scene of affection.

Naruto made an embarrassing sqealing sound, then shoved his boyfriend away and blushed, glaring daggers at the raven. Hide Zou licked his lips and straightened his yellow jacket, grinning at Sasuke, reminding him of the cheshire cat. They both stared at Naruto when he started yelling.

"Why the hell did you leave?.!" he screeched. "You said you were going to study with us, then you leave and we have to search for you like some stupid American detectives! Do these shoes look like they're made for running around Tokyo?" he growled and pointed down at his bright orange fuzzy slippers.

"No?" Sasuke answered slowly. "And I'm sorry I left, I had to take care of some business."

Hide Zou arched a brow. "Drugs?"

"No, just normal errands. Getting groceries and such."

Naruto frowned. "Then where's your groceries, hmm?"

Sasuke smirked. "I wasn't able to get to the store yet. I took a quick stop here because I saw an old friend."

"Likely story," Naruto began, walking around the raven. "But you're probably some Yakuza member giving information about us to your leader. You want us assassinated, just because we called you a stalker. But you know what? You are one!"

His boyfriend yanked him against his chest and chuckled. "He's not completely... sane at this hour of the night. He usually goes to bed around ten," his wristwatch read 1:34 a.m. "He's just spouting nonsense."

"I am not!" the blond struggled.

Sasuke let a small laugh slip between his lips and began walking to a small grocery store that was most likely still open at this ungodly hour. He didn't want them to think he was lying about the errands, so he decided to pick up a few things; fruits, toilet paper, maybe some Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

"Now where're you going?" Naruto asked while yawning loudly.

"To get my groceries," the young Uchiha stated and went into a a small drug store. Hide Zou and Naruto remained outside, the blond constantly yawning, stumbling over his feet, and mumbling things that made no sense whatsoever. It was probably his imagination, but the Jrocker swore Naruto mumbled something about having wings hidden beneath someone's jacket.

"What'd you say?" he asked, his arms wrapping around his lover's rounded shoulders.

"Nghhn," Naruto buried his head in the crook of his boyfriend's neck and sighed. "I'm sorry, Sasuke... I can't remember anything..." her whispered, somewhat regretfully against Hide Zou's exposed skin.

The other male furrowed his brows. _What's he talking about?_

Sasuke came out of the store a few moments later, two grocery bags in each hand. He walked past them and Hide Zou lifted Naruto up, keeping him against his chest to warm him. Thinking about what his lover had said before basically falling asleep standing up, he spoke.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Did Naruto... forget something important to you?" he asked, curious. "Or about you?"

The raven froze and he turned, looking at the sleeping face of the handsome blond in Hide Zou's arms. Did the man know, did Naruto say something? ... Does **he **remember something?

"No, why?"

"Well, he mumbled something about him being sorry for forgetting. It was right before he fell asleep."

xXxXx flashback xXxXx

_"Plan on telling me what you dreamt about or do I have to molest it out of you?" he smirked, dumping his school bag onto the floor and kicking off his boots._

_Grinning a bit, Naruto plopped down on his bed and took off his sneakers, "Well... I don't really know."_

_"You don't know?" the other male looked skeptical._

_"I'm telling the truth! I remember as soon as I wake up, but then it fades away, no matter how hard I try to remember..." The blond laid back, not moving an inch when Hide Zou jumped onto the bed next to him and wrapped strong, warm arms around his waist. He smiled widely, loving how his boyfriend became like him on rare occasions. "It's strange. Once the memories are gone, I feel empty, but I'm shaking... And I don't even remember if the dream was scary or not."_

xXxXx end flashback xXxXx

Hide Zou thought about that.

Did he remember certain things only when he was asleep?

He shook his head, not wanting to think too much on it. The blond was just having a silly, random dream, like almost everyone on the planet did. Not all dreams had explanations.

After a half an hour walk, they reached the campus and walked across the front lawn, some dorm room lights on in the East Wing. Sasuke walked his seperate way, while Hide Zou took Naruto back to their room. They said their farewells to each other, then went to their rooms.

As Sasuke went into his first floor room, he didn't notice the figure following him, the shadow lurking in the dim hallway. Crimson hair and white wings disappeared behind one of the many corners in the dormitory as black eyes looked up.

The raven just shrugged tiredly and shut the door, oblivious to the figure just outside of his bedroom door.

**I'm sooo sorry it's short, but it's like... one in the morning. I'll make the next chap really long to make up for this!**


	5. Gaara

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Sorry for the long wait. I've just recently discovered the wonders of Gaia and have been too absorbed in it to write XD If ya wanna be my friend there, my name's Vanity-sama. And for gold, I'll draw your avatar!**

Yamato-sensei walked up and down the side aisles in his classroom, his strangely wide eyes running over each student's test to make sure it was getting done. He was generally a kind and easy-going man, but he didn't tolerate laziness in the work area, especially while in his classroom. Coming to a halt at the third to last row of desks, he frowned and slapped both hands down in front of the sleeping Naruto and Hide Zou.

Blue eyes snapped open and Naruto shot back in his chair, almost falling backwards. "I'm too tired to do it again, ZouZou! Leave me alo--" his cheeks flushed a pretty pink and he pursed his lips together in embarrassment once he realized where he was. The entire class broke out into laughter, the only quiet ones being Hinata and Sasuke.

The teacher sighed and shook Hide Zou's shoulder, since the teen hadn't woken up, despite the loud noises and laughter. He eventually had to settle for flicking said student's ear after many shakes, and Hide Zou's red contacts were revealed from under black lashes. With a loud yawn and cat-like stretch, he lifted his head and blinked sleepily at Yamato-sensei.

"What?" he drawled tiredly.

"You fell asleep during my test, Hirosuke," the man curtly replied, tapping his pointer finger on the white paper. "Your grades are slipping, so I suggest you finish this. You too, Naruto," he then turned on his heel and started his check of the class once again.

The blond scratched the nape of his neck and scrunched up his nose as he felt a sneeze approach. Next to him, Hinata said her bless you before it even came, then there was a loud sneeze and a sickly groan. Naruto was, apparently, ill. His blue eyes weren't as bright as usual, his cheeks were flushed a bit, and he'd been talking quietly instead of using his loud voice.

"I feel like shit," he moaned in agony as his boyfriend's hand rubbed soothing circles on his back. "And it's all your fault, Teme, since you **had **to go out that late," he tried to yell, but his sore throat throbbed and he lowered his voice, whimpering pathetically. The scolding from Yamato-sensei also made him shut up.

Sasuke ignored the whines, focusing on how he'd be able to get his dobe's memories back. It would have to be during the night, while Naruto was asleep, since memories seemed to only flood to him then. He'd also have to find a way to keep them there... He surely couldn't force the blond to stay awake forever, could he?

_If he doesn't fall asleep, then he won't remember anything. Keeping him awake wouldn't do any good, _he snarled inwardly, frustrated. He'd finished his literature test earlier than everyone else, giving him plenty of time to think and plan. Unfortunately, everything seemed useless at the moment.

"U-Uchiha-kun," Hinata spoke softly, like always. "Is something the matter? You look as if you're upset."

Looking over at the small girl, he gave her a reassuring smirk and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. "I'm fine, just wondering how Naruto could be such a dobe. Almost everyone in the class is finished with their test, even Hide Zou, yet he's still only on the first page."

Right eye twitching, Naruto glared, wanting so bad to wipe that smirk off the Uchiha's face with a swift punch to the jaw. Instead, he took a deep breath and exhaled, focusing on his test. He started scribbling stuff down and only paid attention to the barely audible music coming from the headphones around his lover's neck.

The classroom door was opened as everyone was finishing up with their tests, a young male with blood red hair and piercing green eyes stepping in, a literature book under his right arm. On the far left of his forehead was a tattoo of the symbol for love. Most of the students turned to look, curious as to who the boy was.

Black outlined his slanted eyes, showing his many years of insomnia. "Sensei," his voice was ominous, but calming.

Yamato-sensei turned toward the voice, having been too absorbed in reading through his planner to notice his arrival. He smiled pleasantly and closed the book with a snap before heading toward the front of the room. Holding out a hand, he awaited a handshake.

The red-head looked down at the large tan hand and only stared. He slowly reached forward and grasped the it, leaving the teacher to start the handshake.

"You must be the new student Tsunade-sama was telling me about. The transfer student from Canada, correct? Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

The boy glanced over at the staring students and said in a low voice, "I thought this was college, not elementary school."

Yamato-sensei laughed. "I'd still like for you to introduce yourself."

Up in Naruto's row of seats, Hide Zou was looking down at the new student with curiousity; Naruto held the same expression, Hinata was averting her eyes from the male, and Sasuke had his own eyes narrowed, his teeth gritted.

_What are you doing here, Gaara?_

The male, now known as Gaara, walked in front of the teacher's desk and stood there with his hands in the pockets of his coat (which resembled Sasuke's). He remained quiet for a moment, before introducing himself in a cool voice.

"My name is Gaara."

And that was all he said before searching out a seat for himself among the many students. A few girls asked him to sit with them, but he refused, deciding to settle himself right behind Sasuke with an emotionless face. The raven fumed, his black orbs heated.

xXxXx

After class, Naruto had practically gone into a sneezing fest and had to be supported by his boyfriend before he'd fallen over in a daze. His slight fever had gone down, which was good, so he only had dizzy spells every once and a while. With a groan, he hoisted himself up onto Hide Zou's back and snuggled into the warmth, his literature books being carried by a more than helpful Hinata.

"You feel like skipping the rest of your classes today? Personally, I think you should stay in our dorm and rest," Zou said.

Naruto nodded against his shoulder and peeked around, not seeing Sasuke anywhere. "Jeez, what's the point of having him in our group if he doesn't even hang with us?"

Hinata smile sweetly. "H-He said he was going to go get medicine from the Shizune-san."

"Medicine?"

"For you," she replied with a small giggle.

Naruto blushed a bit and Zou laughed, lifting the blond up higher on his back. "Looks like someone's hot for you, Kinpatsu!" he wiggled his brows. "How about you re-think that threesome? Hmm?"

Glaring, Naruto punched Zou on the back of the head, holding back a sneeze. "I'm happy that you're so possessive," he hissed.

xXxXx

Just outside of the doors on the other end of the english hallway, Gaara and Sasuke stood. The raven had an angered expression on his face, while the red-head just stared at him with an impassive look, his hands still deep in his coat pockets. With a snarl, Sasuke began.

"What the hell are you doing here? And don't tell me it's because of a job."

The clouds above blocked out the sun and Gaara's green eyes seemed a steely gray in the shadows. With a step back, he leaned against the cement wall and let a ghost of a smile grace his rosy lips.

"I'm here to watch over your progress with Uzumaki," he replied honestly, in a cool voice. "That's what Kyuubi-sama wants me to do, anyway."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"But I prefer to take this assignment as a holiday," a smirk crossed his face. "I haven't seen the human world in quite some time, so I think I'll just explore and study. Maybe even see my brother and sister."

A sudden chuckle errupted from the raven's throat and he tilted his head to the side casually. He was definitely surprised that the other angel wasn't there with some evil plans in mind, like usual, but was glad for that.

"But you've never met them, have you?"

Gaara shook his head, curls of red brushing against his temples and the tips of his ears. "Not once, but I'm hopeful. I've wished to see them since my death as an infant..." he eyes glimmered.

Neither of them noticed that the clouds above had turned gray long ago and were heavy with water, finally letting loose the large amount of rain. The both of them immediately went back through the hallway and stepped out onto the other court that was covered with a white pavillion roof. Gaara followed behind the other angel and he took note that they weren't heading in the direction that he'd seen Naruto and Zou go in the previous night.

"I told Hinata I was getting medicine for the dobe, so that's what I'm going to do. I believe the nurse's office is around here somewhere," they headed into the main building where Tsunade's (their principal's) home was located on the second floor. The nurse was walking to her room, drinking from a small paper cup. "Excuse me."

Shizune turned and blinked her soft black eyes at them. "Yshm?" she spoke around a mouth full of water, some running down her chin. She swallowed and wiped it away in embarrassment. "S-sorry. Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'm here to get some medicine for a friend."

"Medicine? Does he have a condition? Flu? Common cold?"

"Just a cold, with a small fever."

"Ah," Shizune smiled and went into her office, opening a pure white cabinet and digging through many small cases and bottles. Lifting up a small green bottle, she examined it and closed the cupboard quietly, holding it out to the raven with her perfectly manicured fingers. "A little remedy Tsunade-sama and I mixed up ourselves. Give him one every three hours and he should be better by morning. If not, up the dosage by one tablet, alright?"

Sasuke bowed his head and turned on his heel, meeting Gaara's piercing gaze. He frowned when the red-head didn't move out of the way.

"So what Kyuubi-sama said is true? You're trying to regain Uzumaki's memories?" his non-existant eyebrows would've risen in curiosity. "You know that is impossible, yes?"

Suddenly in a bad mood, Sasuke shoved the other out of the way and began his journey to Naruto and Zou's dorm. "It's not impossible."

Gaara followed close behind, watching as students exited the agriculture building, chattering and laughing like careless children. He matched his steps with the raven's and adjusted his coat, seeing a white feather poking out from under his dark brown collar.

"It is," he spoke again. "You just haven't realized it yet."

xXxXx

"A Halloween party?" Hinata asked as she placed her and Naruto's school books on the cofee table. "B-But isn't that an American holiday...?"

Hide Zou was currently yanking clothes off of his lover (as if he couldn't do it himself), making sure he was blocking Hinata's view of the teen for the sake of her virgin eyes. He tugged a loose red shirt over the blond's head and snapped the hem of the blue boxers against Naruto's tan hip with a grin.

Naruto shoved the male back and laughed, then turned his attention back to the only female in the room. "There's a large group of Americans at Shinjuku University who're celebrating their holiday here in Japan. They're going to some party somewhere. I think we should crash it."

"You act like a freshman in highschool," Zou smirked and plopped down on the bed, dragging Naruto down with him and licking his neck. "What's the point of crashing a party that has nothing to do with our culture?"

Naruto purred from the lick, then grinned. "Do you remember that little condo we wanted to buy for ourselves just a few blocks from here?"

Hide Zou nodded, remembering the day that they wanted to take their relationship further and move into a nice place together.

"Well, the group of Americans going to the party are kids of rich people, ya know?" his grin was wide and mischevious. "And you know how I just found my talent for working the pole--"

Hide Zou shoved Naruto's head down into the sheets and laughed. "You little shit, I'm not going to let you pole dance for a bunch of horny guys just for some cash. And that better have been a joke."

Naruto flailed and manage to lift his head and gasp for breath. "Asshole! I could've died!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Sasuke asked from the dorm door.

"Teme! I heard you got me medicine!" the blond grinned and fixed his messy hair, letting himself be moved to the center of the bed by his boyfriend (who also covered him up and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek).

As Sasuke handed him the bottle and told him how many pills to take every three hours, Hide Zou said he had class and he and Hinata wandered out of the room, talking about the party Naruto wanted to "dance" at.

"Two?" he popped two tablets into his mouth and swallowed, without water, his mouth opening once again in a loud yawn. "Thanks Sasuke. I suppose, once again, you're not such a fruit all of the time."

Sasuke's left brow twitched. "Fruit? You never said I was a fruit."

"... Oh," Naruto fell back and closed his eyes, grinning toothily. "My bad. Now get out of my room before you realize how sexy I am and decided to molest me," he rolled over and covered his head with his thick blanket.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke left the room, Gaara waiting just outside in the hallway.

"How was that obnoxious boy able to capture your non-existant heart?" the red-heard asked with a small lift of his lips. "What makes him so special that you'd send yourself to hell?"

Sasuke pulled his dorm key from his pocket and passed by the other angel, not caring if he followed or not.

"I don't know, and I really don't care. The important thing is that I love him, right?"

Gaara snorted and once again shoved his hands into his front pockets.

"Love. What a useless emotion."

**Next chapter: Gaara and Lee, a youthful meeting! A Halloween party, a couple of beers, and what do you get? Hell.**


	6. Important

**I'm so sorry, but this story's going to go on a short hiatus. Please read all of this because it would make me so happy.**

**But since my grandparents just moved out, I now have to babysit my siblings all summer, basically 10 hours a day everyday. I also have to help out with working on the house, so I'll hardly have any time to work on this. I also feel that this fic is crappy so far, so I'm going to plan it out a little more and make it just as great as WSBV.**

**I hope you all understand because it's really hard to have to do all of this stuff while feeling like I'm letting all of you down. I'm under a lot of stress.**

**But for those of you who are fans of JLH and KWSC, know that those will still be updated since I actually have those fics planned out and I wanna finish them up so I can work more on this fic.**

**If you understand, just send me a review telling me you do. It'd make me feel a lot better if I knew I wasn't disappointing all of you.**

**I love all of you! Vanity**


	7. An Extra Hand

**disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**I know, I know, I've finally updated Plastic Cafe! In know that some of you might need to read all of the chapters again in order to remember what's going on, as I did, and that's fine. Just to show me that you're all still with me, please leave a review, no matter how little or simple!**

**Enjoy, minna! This is where the fun begins!**

Naruto collapsed in the yellowing grass outside of the house where the supposed Halloween party was supposed to take place, his breathing coming out labored and harsh. Sweat was running down his defined jaw, his golden hair sticking up in different directions. Rolling onto his back, he tilted his head back and looked at all of the multi-colored lights flashing inside, loud music blaring.

"You run too damn fast, man! Fuck!" Kiba ran out of the woods that were across the street and came to a messy halt in the driveway where at least five cars were parked. There were about twenty others vehicles parked along the street they were on, a swaying girl vomiting in the grass by the mailbox. He grinned. "There's nothin' better than a good party!"

Sakura, followed out of the woods by everyone else, fixed her hair and dress, ready to impress some handsome American men. She put on a pretty smile and crossed the street with Hinata right by her side, the mousy girl looking about nervously. Behind them, Hide Zou was talking to his mom on his cellphone, trying to explain to the woman that he was out and didn't want to talk at the moment. Next to him was Sasuke, the raven shoving his hands in jacket pockets.

"You guys ready to party?.!" Kiba pumped a fist in the air and headed up the yard, ringing the doorbell. The others, except for the exhausted Naruto, reached him right as the door opened and a brunette greeted them, piercings on her eyebrows and nose. She recognized Kiba right away as the guy she'd talked to at a tattoo parlor the other day and she let them in. "Oh, the blond in the grass is with us," he said in accented English.

The girl laughed. "Sure, sure, he can come in when he wants. Ya hear that, blondie?" she called to Naruto, hoping he knew he could just come in when he wanted.

"Uh huh," Naruto groaned, his heart beating loudly in his chest. He knew he shouldn't have ran so fast, but he was just too excited. Now he couldn't even get up to go to the damn party. "Shit, Zou, help me up!"

Hide Zou snapped his phone shut and slid it into his back pocket, his boots clacking loudly on the sidewalk as he made his way to the grass, bending over to reach a friendly hand out. He smiled and helped his boyfriend up, brushing the boy's back off.

"What did I tell you about getting too excited?"

Naruto groaned. "That I shouldn't run around, no matter how much I want to. I know, I know," he felt like a little child being scolded and reminded of a classroom rule. He brushed his shoulders off and headed to the open door, noticing Sasuke amused smirk. He frowned. "What's with the look, Teme?"

Sasuke, having not realized he'd been smirking, switched his expression to that of a statue, stoic and emotionless. He felt his stomach in his throat as he spoke, not wanting to tell Naruto that he found him cute. It wasn't something you told someone you... didn't know too well... He fought against the urge to scowl and curse.

Naruto watched the other's reaction, but he wasn't able to ponder on it before Kiba slung his tan arm around the blond's neck and yanked him into the house. The music was a mix between screaming techno and rap, and various-colored lights were flashing throughout the downstairs. A drunk couple stumbled up the stairs, a jock type of male smacking his girlfriend on her barely-covered ass with a grin.

"American holidays fuckin' rock!" Kiba declared while pushing his good friend in, everyone else following after animatedly, save for the still cautious Hinata and the solemn Uchiha. The mousy girl smiled kindly at the raven and he nodded his head to her before she went after Sakura into the living room, a large group of people packed onto the sofa like sardines. Each one of them were smoking and drinking beer.

_I don't want him in this kind of place, _Sasuke frowned to himself. Exactly what kind of hobbies had Naruto picked up while he was out of their old apartment? Meneuvering himself through the rowdy crowd, he entered a large kitchen and sat down at the dining table where a scantily-clad female was passed out from too much alcohol. Who he suspected to be her friend was on her cellphone trying to talk over the blaring music.

"No, I'm completely washhted!" the girl slurred and leaned against the stove. "Shhhure, we can waittt! Ahaha, shhee you then, babeh," she crooned annoyingly. "Bye!"

Facing away from them, Sasuke crossed his legs and closed his eyes, steadying his breath. He'd fought with Naruto and Sakura about going to this party only an hour ago. He'd stated that he didn't want to go and that he'd much prefer staying in his dorm to do homework, but the stupid pink-haired college student had threatened him with a frying pan and fork.

"Hey, cutie, what's your name?" Sasuke heard another female's voice coming from behind him. Turning around slightly, he spotted a black-haired girl in a slutty pink dress looking at him with predatory eyes. Lovely.

"I'm not interested," he stated rudely.

She whined and tried her attempt at a pout, but all it did was make Sasuke want to hurl. He'd never found women attractive or desirable, and that wasn't going to change.

"Ya sure, baby? I've been waiting for someone to catch my interest alllll night," she complained in what was supposed to be a seductive tone. "You're the cutest guy I've seen in this country," she smiled. "How about you and me go upstairs and have a little fun?"

"I'm not interested," the raven repeated.

"Why not?" she whined.

"I'm not into women."

"..."

Sasuke spared her a glance and was surprised to see an amused smile spread across her smooth face. Her lips were crooked from the alcohol, but she laughed prettily and reached behind her to get another beer.

"You're gay, huh? That's pretty hot. I'll give ya fifty bucks if ya fuck my friend."

Dear Jesus, what had he gotten himself into?

xXxXx

Naruto laughed loudly for the hundreth time that night, sitting on his boyfriend's lap on one of the leather sofas down in the smoke-filled basement. He was surrounded by attractive American females, quite a few of them smoking cigarettes and downing alcohol like an athlete chugging gatorade.

Sitting in an armchair to the blond's right was his good friend, Lee, one of his classmates; on his left were three gigging brunettes who were dressed as black cats and mentioned something about being from Tacoma when they were sober; and in front of him were a few jocks from a football team back in Atlanta, none of them drinking or smoking. They'd said something about being kicked off the team if their coach found out.

"You really did that?" one of the jocks asked Naruto with a wide grin, his red hair in curls down to the tops of his ears. "Did he call the cops?"

Naruto, who spoke very good english, took a sip of his gingerale and leaned further back into his lover's chest, relishing in the warmth since the basement was so chilly. He smiled like a crazy man and nodded, his long bangs swooshing to the side.

"He did, but me and my friends jumped the fence and ran into the woods. Believe me, that will be the last time I ever try to spraypaint someone's house."

The three girls seemed to laugh in unison, all shifting their legs at exactly the same time. If Hide Zou didn't know any better, he'd have to say they were either robots or siamese triplets. Both were highly unlikely.

"Ano, Naruto-kun," Lee spoke up after everyone was done laughing. "There's someone standing behind you..."

The blond blinked and tilted his head back, seeing an annoyed Sasuke standing behind him. He grinned and waved to the other male, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Heya, Sasuke, what's with the livid expression you're wearin'? Aren't you having fun?"

Sasuke scowled, but didn't hurl an insult at his ex-boyfriend. He wanted the man to fall in love with him, not hate him. But at the moment, he didn't care about the deal he made with Kyuubi, he just wanted to walk back to his dorm room and relax with a nice book or two.

"I was cornered in a room by a guy who decided it would be a wonderful idea to shove his hand down my pants," the raven growled darkly. "And I was also groped by another man... or woman... I'm not quite sure, but it was anything but **fun**, dobe."

Hide Zou held back a laugh at his lover's pouty face.

"Then how about you join us? I didn't tell you to wander off from us like the lone wolf you are, so you getting molested isn't my fault," Naruto grumbled. "You shouldn't have went somewhere on your own. Honestly, I know the types of things that go on at parties like this, so don't go anywhere by yourself again, ok? I don't need you getting hurt."

Sasuke suddenly remembered the expression that Naruto wore the day he'd ripped out his wings... and he wouldn't want to see that look again if he could help it. With a sigh, he sat down on the arm of the chair the two lovebirds were in and shoved his hands in his pockets, listening to another conversation start up between the three girls and the jocks.

Getting a grin of approval from Naruto, he rolled his eyes and decided to glance around the spacious room where members of the party were either watching a flat-screen television in the back, playing some gaming system Sasuke couldn't name, or drinking and talking like the group he was in was doing. Looking over the members, his charcoal eyes stopped on Lee, eyesbrows raising.

Lee wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the people around him, since he was too busy looking around the room for something or someone. His bowl-cut hair made him look like Bruce Lee and his "clam eyes" made him look more American than Asian. Sasuke could tell he was Chinese by the way his face was structured, though.

Suddenly, Lee's eyes met his. They looked at each other for a split second before the other boy peered over his shoulder and smiled brightly.

"Gaara-san!" he stood up and every member of the group watched him leave and head over to the red-head who was in Naruto's class. The blond smiled and greeted him, asking him to join them and have some soda or a beer, whichever he prefered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have to speak to Lee about something," Gaara spoke smoothly and in fluent english so that the poor Americans wouldn't be left out. With a nod of his head, he walked to the back of the room where a sliding glass door led out to the docks. Lee followed right behind him, talking animatedly about something.

Sasuke watched them suspiciously, then excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom. He heard Naruto say something about not knowing Gaara was invited before he let red seep into his eyes, black wheels churning violently until black, red, and white were the only colors in the room. Everyone was stuck in place, except for Gaara outside, who peered at him with a blank face.

Pushing open the sliding glass door, Sasuke stepped to where he could be hidden from the inside by two surf boards that were propped up against the home. His eyes faded back to black and Lee, who had been frozen in mid-sentence, started speaking again.

"--that way, Gaara-san? Ah!" he jumped when he noticed Sasuke's sudden presence.

"There's no need to be alarmed, Lee, he's a **friend** of mine," Gaara said quietly. "Sasuke, is there a reason why you're intruding on our conversation?"

Sasuke frowned.

"I just took notice of how your 'job' seemed to be so thrilled when he saw you... and wanted to tell him personally not to get attached. I wouldn't want him to go through what I've been through and what I'm **still** going through."

Lee gave his angel a confused look. "What's he talking about?"

"I suggest you leave," Gaara's expression was still stoic. "There's no possible way he would get attached to something like me, so you don't need to give me a speech on what happened to you and your job."

The raven shrugged and turned his head, glancing back into the room. He watched Naruto laugh with his boyfriend and the rest of their group, his blue eyes as bright as ever. He smiled slightly. How he wished he could have that again, have what he knew Lee and Gaara would have. He could see it in Lee's eyes, what he used to see in Naruto's... and even though Gaara considered himself a horrible creature, that didn't mean someone couldn't fall for him.

"Just remember... don't get too attached," he repeated, heading back into the house.

xXxXx

Iruka walked up and down the aisles of the large college classroom, watching his students take their quiz in silence. He looked over at the clock on the wall above the door and smiled to himself. _Another day without a single problem, _he said with pride. _Two more days and the week's over, then I can..._

He stopped his mental chatter when he spotted both Naruto and Hide Zou passed out at their desks, Sasuke's eyes outlined in a faint black as he tried his hardest to stay awake. Behind them, Lee was as vibrant as ever, finishing his test with much gusto. Gaara, too, didn't seem too tired. Of course, Sasuke knew the man couldn't sleep. Kyuubi hadn't granted him emotions like he had Sasuke. The tan teacher gritted his teeth and slammed both hands down on the two lovers' desks, getting more of a reaction from the conscious students than the slumbering ones.

"Hirosuke, Naruto, wake up before I give you both extra bookwork tonight. Let's say... thirty pages to memorize and fifty questions to answer?"

Both of the men woke up at the same time, yawning and sitting up as if they'd done nothing wrong. Sasuke rubbed at his own eyes with his left palm and stifled a yawn with his other, hating the fact that he could now have the feeling of being tired, but loving it at the same time. He felt so human.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei..." Naruto mumbled. "We were out really late last night..."

"Yeah, a big party," Hide Zou added. "Ya should've been there... lots of hot Americans and booze."

Iruka frowned.

"You two have no shame, do you? You're lucky I like you so much or else I would report you," he smiled faintly and tapped his fingers on their desks, pointing to their unfinished tests. "Finish this, then you can leave class. You too, Sasuke, you look tired, as well. Did these two drag you along with them last night? I wouldn't put it past them to blackmail you into going," he joked.

Sasuke didn't have the energy to smirk, so he let out a breath of air that sounded like a whispered laugh. He brushed his bangs out of his face and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. "They didn't blackmail me, surprisingly. I went of my own free will."

"Ah, I see," Iruka nodded, making sure he spoke in a whisper so the other students could concentrate. "So how's your guardian? Is he doing well?"

Sasuke almost froze.

"My... guardian?"

_He couldn't possibly remember... could he?_

Iruka smiled kindly. "Yes, your guardian. Kakashi, was it? I just wanted to know how he was doing."

Gaara looked up from his test with his usual blank face, his mechanical pencil coming to an abrupt stop as he listened in on what was being exchanged between the two. He knew Kakashi personally and knew that Kyuubi had erased Iruka's memory of him before he was bound to the Tokyo Tower... so how was it that the man knew of him?

Confused by the silence, Iruka laughed nervously.

"Didn't I meet him at the grocery store the other night? A silver-haired gentleman who said he was your guardian? He has bandages that cover his left eye...?"

Sasuke swallowed, trying not to show how much his words affected him. He knew that Gaara could sense his confusion and surprise, though.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he lied with a slight smile. "I don't know how I forgot that. But he's doing just fine... visiting his brother in Kyushu at the moment."

"Kyushu? Such a lovely place," Iruka commented before he was interrupted by Naruto and Hide Zou, the both of them holding up their tests and practically shoving them into their proctor's face.

"Here you go!" Hide Zou grinned and stood up, grabbing his chemistry book and shoving it in his bag, Naruto doing the same. "You said we could go when we were done, right? Then we're out of here. I'm fuckin'--"

"Language, Hirosuke," Iruka reprimanded him.

"Sorry. Um, uh... I'm **frickin'** tired as hell--"

"Hirosuke," the teacher glared at him.

"I'm twenty, not ten," Hide Zou grumbled under his breath. "Come on, Sasuke, sattle up. We're inviting you over to our place for a big cuddly threesome slumber party," he said in the gayest voice he could muster, batting his long eyelashes. Some classmates snickered under their breath while Lee bid them a respectful farewell.

Sasuke packed his own things and handed his finished test to Iruka, getting up and turning to look back at the working Gaara before he slung the bag's strap over his shoulder. He sighed, wanting to just go to his own room to rest. As much as he loved Naruto, he didn't want to sleep in the same room as him right now.

"I'll see you three tomorrow," Iruka smiled and went to the very back of the room where a few students held out their own tests, hoping they could go back to their dorms like their fellow students. Unfortunately, Iruka only shook his head and they all groaned in annoyance.

"Are you ok, teme?" Naruto asked as they all exited the classroom, his fingers laced with his boyfriend's. "You look like you're about to blow chunks? If you hurl, hurl to your right, ok?"

Sasuke gave him a small smile.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired and hungry. I didn't get breakfast this morning before I came to class..."

"Then we'll give you something to eat when we get to our place. Does pasta sound good? Sakura brought it by this morning before she went with Hinata to her doctor's appointment. She's getting a shot, so she apparently needs someone there to hold her hand," Hide Zou rolled his different-colored eyes.

Sasuke remained quiet and stopped before the sidewalks split, one going in the direction of Naruto and Hide Zou's dormrooms and the other veering off in the direction of where Sasuke's was. He felt like something was up and furrowed his brows, not knowing exactly what.

"Sasuke? Duck butt?" Hide Zou frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"I'll meet the both of you at your room in a little while. I want to drop my bag off at my place and pick up something from a friend's room..." he lied, looking down the path that would send him toward his own dorm.

Naruto grinned.

"Ok, but make it quick. After we rest for a bit, we're going to Zeppelin with a few friends. You know, Kiba, Kankuro, Temari, the usual. Ino might even come by if she gets back from Italy soon enough. Her plane's supposed to come in around this time," he smiled brightly. "You haven't met Ino yet, have you? I've known her my whole life and I bet you'll like her--"

"Come on, Kinpatsu, you don't want to keep him standing here while you babble on about some girl," Hide Zou pushed his lover to the left, away from Sasuke. "We'll see you later, Sasuke, don't keep us waiting!"

"Yeah..." the raven quickly went in the direction of his place, feeling something that he hadn't felt in a while. As a supernatural being, he could faintly feel someone's presence, but with certain individuals, that presence was immense and could almost blind him when caught off guard. Going right after passing a few of the flowerless sakura trees, he turned and spotted someone standing in front of his door.

Ino stared at him with her icy blue eyes, but smiled so warmly that it could melt all of the ice in the world. She pushed herself away from the door and ran forward, wrapping her thin arms around the angel's shoulders and letting a relieved sigh escape her glossy lips. She looked different from the last time Sasuke had seen her; more mature, more developed, simply gorgeous with her slender frame and sandy hair.

"Ino..."

"I seem to be the only one who remembers you..." she whispered against his jaw sadly. "I was watching you with the two of them... and Naruto doesn't seem to know who you are at all," she pulled back and looked up at him with glass eyes. "Sasuke, I know it must hurt..."

"How do you remember me? Kyuubi erased everyone's memories," he grit out. He looked back on how Iruka managed to recall a memory of a long, long time ago, but he didn't believe it was anything more than coincidence.

"Kyuubi... he's the angel my uncle told me about," Ino smiled faintly. "Like the rest of my family, he's in touch with the spiritual side... and he told me about a lord of angels that seemed to have 'blocked my mind', as he put it. He told me about everything that happened with the two of you. That's his talent, reading through other peoples' memories like they're documents in a file cabinet."

Sasuke's eyes were full of hope.

"Was he able to unblock your memories? Can he do the same for--"

Ino cut him off and shook her haid, her long hair falling over her left shoulder as fluidly as water. She looked so sad with her bangs covering her eyes and her brows downturned like that. Clasping both of her dainty hands together in front of her hips, she bit her bottom lip.

"I wish it were that simple... but my uncle wasn't the one who let me remember. I did it on my own. Do you remember how everyone in my family but me seemed to have some special ability? Well, I don't know what mine is exactly... but every memory of you flooded back to me randomly one evening. My uncle said it had to do with my talent, but I don't know what it is..." she pouted slightly and that made Sasuke smile. He missed the girl.

"I don't mind working on getting his memories back on my own. I just hoped that maybe something could make it a little simpler," Sasuke admitted.

The female smiled prettily.

"Don't think you're going to do this alone. You have me, stupid, or have you forgotten already?" she giggled. "Just fill me in on everything that needs to be done and I'll do my best. As much as I adore Hide Zou... Naruto's is the puzzle piece that fits perfectly with you, not him."

"Ah, a bright light in the darkness I've been trapped in for the past few days," Sasuke chuckled. "Thank you, Ino."

The blonde took his hand with hers and held it up to her face, smiling.

"You can get him back, I'm sure of it. Let's do our best, ok?"

Sasuke snorted.

"This is turning out like one of those sappy friendship anime," he commented.

Ino puffed her cheeks out and dropped his hand, crossing her arms.

"But one of those **good**, sappy friendship anime," Sasuke corrected himself and earned himself a playful slap to the arm.

"Now let's go get Naruto back!" Ino pumped her fist in the air in a very Naruto-esque way and grinned. "To the big cuddly threesome slumber party we go!"

"You heard that part?"

Ino laughed and tugged Sasuke down the sidewalk.

"I was by the classroom door," she smirked. "Then hid on the stairwell when you guys came out."

Sasuke frowned.

"You're turning into a stalker."

"It's a bad habit, so what?" Ino huffed.

"Biting your nails and sucking your thumb are bad habits, not stalking someone. That's what I'd like to call a federal offense," Sasuke smirked.

"Che, shows how much you know."

**Please review! Let's see who all's still with me!**

**Next chapter: Naruto has a dream of an abandoned home, Hinata finds "the tape", and Kiba invites everyone to his family's farm in good ol' Hokkaido! What happens when certain places bring back unwanted feelings and old forgotten pictures bring up Sasuke's past that no one knew about?**

**"It belonged to the Uchiha family, didn't it?"**

**"Sasuke, isn't Uchiha your surname?"**

**"..."**


	8. Onward to Hokkaido!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**I've been caught up in vampire novels, my grandparents visiting, and the end of Code Geass, so... forgive me for the late update XD I know those aren't good reasons, but if your favorite anime character of all time died, you'd be emo too.**

_A small Naruto looked up at the old house with a big smile on his face, the street lights around him turned on in the blackness of the night. He ran up the winding path that led up to the front porch, the first step of the porch stairs creaking under his feet. He glanced up and saw that a light was on in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, his lips moving to call out a name that was inaudible due to the loud wind. _

_Reaching out, he grabbed onto the handle of the screen door and pulled, everything becoming white. All of the scenery disappeared._

_"I have to find them..."_

Cerulean eyes snapped open, the irises becoming rings around a circle of black. Naruto rubbed at his temple and sat up, the sheets falling around his waist as he looked over at his sleeping boyfriend. He scanned the room to find Ino digging through the fridge and Sasuke sitting at the small dining table, looking as if he'd lost something important to him. It was almost as if he could feel exactly what the Uchiha felt and it made his heart ache.

"What're you doing in my fridge, Ino, I thought you had enough to eat when you got here," Naruto decided to tease, ignoring the pain in his chest. There was no reason to worry, he was just being stupid.

Ino closed the fridge door, a bottle of water in her hand. She smirked darkly.

"Was that an indirect way of calling me fat, **Naruto**?" she crooned. "If so, I might have to shove this water bottle where the sun don't shine."

Sasuke's look of sadness slowly slipped from his handsome face, replaced with an expression of amusement. He sat back in the metal chair, remembering how Naruto and Ino would jab at each other back when he was still with the gorgeous blond. He could picture it, everyone together again.

The color drained from Naruto's face and he laughed nervously, waking Hide Zou from his peaceful slumber. The rocker groaned and wrapped his arm around his lover's waist, pulling himself closer to the warmth. "Mmmphhh," he mumbled.

"Rise and shine, Zou Zou!" Naruto grinned and yanked the sheet from Hide Zou's well-sculpted body, earning a cat call from Ino who laughed and giggled. "We have to meet everyone at Zeppelin in less than fifteen--fifteen minutes?.!" the blond shot out of bed, clad in only a pair of plain white boxers. He yanked his closet open, searching for a decent outfit. "We're gonna be late!"

Hide Zou grunted and climbed out of bed, ruffling the back of his hair while yawning. He looked over at Sasuke with raised brows.

"Did you even sleep at all?"

Sasuke shook his head, obviously tired.

"I was talking with Ino--"

"About when we used to play together as kids," the female cut in with a devious smile. A sheen of mischief glazed over her eyes and both of the staring males wondered what she was up to, especially Sasuke.

"You guys knew each other?" Hide Zou asked while yanking on a pair of jeans that were hanging over their computer chair. "Naruto said you didn't..."

Ino smirked. "Well," she started, "I guess Naruto just doesn't remember. He even met Sasuke a few times. We would play at Sasuke's house and his mom would make us apple pie **every **friday after school."

Sasuke glared at her, not liking how she was just spilling information like that to him. What was she thinking? Hide Zou would probably end up telling Naruto and-- His dark eyes opened a tad bit wider as realization hit him. That was one step toward getting the blond to remember everything. Sure, Naruto's memories are erased when he falls asleep, but it could still help.

Hide Zou snickered. "Pie, huh? Sounds yummy."

Naruto came out of the closet in a pair of black jeans and a snug orange T-shirt. His hair was messed up from searching around for clothes, but he still looked handsome, his blue eyes gleaming up at everyone from under spiked bangs. He grinned in triumph and grabbed his wallet off of the computer desk, shoving it in his back pocket.

"Come on, we don't wanna keep everyone waiting!" he cheered.

Sasuke smirked.

"You just don't want to make Temari angry."

"We all know you're terrified of her," Ino chimed in.

Naruto glared at them both, pouting.

"You guys are ass holes."

--

Kiba waved his arm around to catch the arriving group's attention, his own group settled in a booth in the back right corner. There were already drinks set out for everyone, Hinata having ordered everyone what they liked. She didn't know what Sasuke enjoyed the most, so she'd just ordered him what he'd had last time they were at Zeppelin.

Naruto and Hide Zou sat next to Shikamaru, Temari, and Kankuro while Ino and Sasuke sat beside Hinata, Kiba, and Sakura. Hinata happily welcomed Ino back, as well as everyone else who hadn't known she'd got back. As they sipped from their beverages and talked, Kiba suddenly mentioned how he wanted everyone to go with him to Hokkaido, to see his family's farm.

"Your sister scares me," Hide Zou admitted. "She could probably kick my ass if I pissed her off."

Everyone laughed while Sasuke frowned. He'd lost out on so much, he realized. While he was stuck in Naruto's old and empty apartment, Hide Zou had become the best of friends with everyone and even did so much as to visit their families. Sasuke didn't know anything about Kiba's family, or that he even had a sister. Looking around at everyone, he realized he hardly knew anything about them beyond their names, age, and hobbies.

"It sounds fun!" Sakura chimed in. "I'm in! How about you guys? Sasuke-kun, you **have** to go," she smiled joyfully. "You'll have a lot of fun, I promise!"

"Yeah, Uchiha," Kiba grinned. "You're a part of the gang now, so it wouldn't be a real vacation without ya!"

Sasuke thought it over for a few seconds, then reluctantly agreed. He wasn't going to give up a chance to get to know everyone better and he **definitely** wasn't going to pass up the chance to spend time with Naruto.

Naruto held his glass up in the air with a dopey grin on his face.

"Then it's settled! We're all going to Kiba's on a mini-vacation!"

Kankuro snorted.

"Who said I was going--"

"I'll score ya a date with Yukiru," Kiba's eyes flashed. "You know, my cousin who you said was bangin' and would like to fu--"

"I'm fuckin' in!" Kankuro held up his glass. "Cheers!"

Everyone else held up their glasses with much less enthusiasm, getting ready to clang them together. Kiba, Kankuro, and Naruto all yelled "cheers!" in unison ans everyone brought their glasses together. Unfortunately, the blond male was a little too chipper and hit his too hard on Kiba's, the glass breaking and soda spilling all over the table.

"N-Naruto!" Sakura yelped.

"I'm all sticky," Temari growled. "You're dead, Uzumaki."

"Clean it up!"

Just then, the manager of Zeppelin came out and approached them, obviously furious. Everyone smiled nervously at him, save for Temari who was trying to strangle the cause of the problem.

"I'm going to have to ask you all to leave," he said sternly.

"What?" Kiba groaned. "Again?"

"Naruto, you're dead!" Sakura smacked him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Owww! Stop hitting me!"

--

**One week later, Saturday morning**

Hinata was browsing through her suitcase, making sure she had everything she needed for the trip. Sakura was in the kitchen looking for something to eat since she hadn't eaten all morning, mumbling something about wanting chocolate while the blue-haired, mousy girl looked around her room, wondering where her pair of sneakers was. She opened up her sliding closet door and flicked on the light, a little ashamed of the mess inside.

"Do you have any hershey bars?" Sakura called from the kitchen, digging through cabinets like a pack rat. She pulled down a box of brownies that was hidden behind some mixing bowls and grinned. "Nevermind!"

Pushing aside a pile of clothes she planned on taking to a shelter, Hinata searched around for the pair of white and gray sneakers she always took with her when she went with Kiba to his family's home on holidays. Opening a brown box she'd packed full of old high school things, she reached inside and whispered a 'there they are' when she lifted out the sneakers.

"Maybe I should unpack this stuff," she spoke to herself, carrying the box out to her bed and sitting it by the bottom ledge. She placed her shoes in the suitcase neatly, then started sorting through the box of items. She'd never had the time to go through some of the boxes she'd brought with her in the move to her college dorm, so she decided she might as well since she had an hour until Kiba was coming to pick her and Sakura up.

She smiled when she found old photographs of her and Naruto during their freshmen year, dressed up for a Christmas event their sensei had made them join. The blond had been so small and scrawny then, compared to how tall and slightly muscular he was now. Next were a few manga books she'd borrowed from Ino and never gave back, Hinata feeling guilty for not having remembered to return them.

She blinked in surprise, though, when she saw a titleless black tape settled among a hand-made scarf she'd made in sewing class. Lifting it up, she wiped dust away and wondered what it could be of. She certainly didn't remember videotaping anything.

_I'll take this to Kiba-kun's with me, _she decided, putting the tape in her suitcase with everything, _since I don't have a VCR anymore._

Zipping up her luggage and lifting it off the bed, she rolled it into the small living room only to find Sakura in the middle of making brownies. The pink-haired college student grinned at her while stirring the mix, causing Hinata to giggle and run into the kitchen so she could help.

"I didn't want to wait until we stopped at a restaurant," Sakura explained. "I'm hungry **now**."

Hinata smiled.

"It's fine. Everyone won't be here for at least an hour--"

The front door was suddenly shoved open and Kankuro came in with a large grin, Temari following him in while texting. The siblings were dressed for outdoor activities, that was for sure. Kankuro raced into the kitchen and shoved his finger into the brownie mix, earning a growl from the starving Sakura.

"We're here to pick you guys up and you're baking brownies?" Temari smirked, closing her phone. "I'm hoping you have your luggage packed."

"You guys weren't supposed to be here for another hour," Sakura stated. "So you're gonna have to sit your butts down on the couch and wait until we're done here."

"Oh, fuck no!" Kankuro grabbed both of their wrists and dragged them toward the open door. "Temari, get their bags! I'll send Shikamaru in to get the brownie mix! Fuck me if we're leaving that here!"

Temari snorted, tucking her phone into her back pocket while she grabbed the handles to the rolling suitcases. She pulled them out the door and watched Shikamaru climb out of the van with an annoyed look on his face. Patting his cheek when he passed, Temari laughed, already enjoying the trip that hadn't even started.

"Oi! I'm trying to do something here!" Naruto yelled when Sakura climbed over the seat, interrupting a mind trick Sasuke was trying to use on the blond. He was sitting beside Sasuke in the middle seats, Hide Zou driving since Kiba had indulged himself in a little stupid morning drinking. The brunette was in the passenger's seat so he could give directions.

Sasuke watched Sakura and Hinata settle themselves in the back, with Kankuro and Ino, and as Shikamaru returned with the brownie mix, he sat it on Sakura's lap and climbed in the far back where he sat on the floor with Temari. Their bags were all securely tied onto the roof and the raven absently wondered how much fun they could have being stuck in the vehicle like sardines.

"Hey, teme, the mind trick," Naruto grinned. "Try it again."

Sasuke snorted.

"Pick a number in your head, any number, and don't tell me."

"Uh huh, got it," Naruto nodded.

"Add three."

"Yeah?"

"Add twenty."

"Got it."

"Now subtract the number you started with from the number you have now."

"What's my number, huh?" Naruto grinned wider.

"Twenty-three," Sasuke smirked, crossing his arms.

"..." the blond's face fell and he pouted like he used to when Sasuke wouldn't give him what he wanted. He wanted to lean forward and take those lips into a kiss, but knew better than to do something idiotic like that. He would just wait until Naruto begged for him to kiss him. "You always get it right! How do you do that?"

"It's a magician's secret," Sasuke whispered in an almost seductive manner.

Naruto blushed and puffed his cheeks out.

"You're not a magician, stupid!"

"Fuck," Kiba interrupted with a groan. "I **really** want a drink right now."

Sasuke raised a brow, then paid attention to a conversation behind him when something caught his attention. It was Sakura and Hinata chatting about something rather embarrassing, if he could take the smaller girl's stuttering as a sign.

"Soooo," the pinkette smiled almost innocently. "I heard from a reliable source that Kiba's extremely good in bed," she crooned. "Amazing, even."

Hinata flushed a dark crimson, causing Ino to giggle.

"Wh-what source is that? K-Kiba-kun's slept... with someone else...?" her eyes seemed to water and Sakura panicked, waving her hands around in defense.

"No, no! I didn't mean it that way! I was only kidding! H-Hinata, don't cry!"

"H-He told me I was his first and..." she bit her bottom lip.

"Hinata, I said I was kidding!"

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, his face contemplative.

"Is this what it's going to be like the entire drive? If so, I think I should bail out now."

"Pft, you'll get used to it," Naruto shrugged.

--

Sasuke was staring out the window, not paying much attention to the conversations and games going on around him. He barely even noticed the screaming music in the background, courtesy of Hide Zou. It was raining lightly and he watched the droplets slide down the glass, then zip away because of how fast the car was going. It'd been a total of fours hours and they were almost to Aomori, a small city at the top of Northern Honshu.

"We're gonna stop for a bit once we reach Aomori," Kiba said after he turned off the radio. "We'll bust out the cooler and eat somewhere outside."

"That sounds fun," Ino chirped happily. "Can it be near a creek? It's hot and I want to cool off in some water."

"Ino, it's gonna be freezing ass cold in Hokkaido," Temari frowned.

"The creek it is!" Naruto whooped.

"You guys are idiots," Temari stated with her eyes closed and head against the back seat. Her behind was going numb from sitting on the floor for so long and she just wanted to get out and stretch as soon as possible.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto called to the raven, smiling handsomely. "I never really asked, but where did you move here from? Thinking about seeing Kiba's folks made me wonder where you were from before you came to campus. You're really pale, so maybe you're from somewhere where it's always cold?" he joked.

Ino looked up at Sasuke, ignoring what Sakura was saying for the time being.

Sasuke smiled slightly. Memories of his youth spent with Naruto and Ino flashed across his mind and he wanted nothing more than to tell his past lover that he lived only a few minutes from him, that all he had to do when he was little was run through the woods to find him... Everything seemed like a dream now; Naruto's cheery smile, Ino's complaints when they wouldn't play dolls with her...

"I grew up close to the campus, actually."

Naruto's stared with bright, blue eyes. "Really?"

"Hey, guys," Kiba spoke up again. "We're here! Welcome to Aomori, now get out of the fuckin' car so we can set up base and have some beer!" he grinned while Hide Zou parked the car on the side of the road, by a bunch of mangroves that were lining a shallow creek.

"Out of the car, fuckers! Move it!" Kankuro grinned like Kiba and leaped out of the automobile, grabbing the small cooler that he'd had on his lap. "Asahi, man?" he asked the brunette.

Hinata treaded over to her boyfriend and took his hand in hers, giving him a pleading look that only sweet, innocent Hinata could give him. It made him pucker his lips like a child and he actually passed up the offer for a beer.

"She's got him whipped," Ino and Sakura giggled. "I bet she gives the commands in bed, too."

"Don't talk about Hinata like that," Naruto told them, jumping over mangrove roots and kicking off his dirty sneakers so he could wade around in the cool water. While everyone stretched and drank whatever beverages were stashed in the red cooler, he went into the water, surprised to see Sasuke following behind him.

The raven had his head tilted back as he let the drizzling rain fall over him. Naruto had to admit, Sasuke was extremely good-looking, even if he was an ass hole. He smiled brightly and went over to his friend, kicking water onto his legs.

Sasuke snapped his head forward and glared.

"Woah, creepy," Naruto laughed and wiggled his toes around in the water. As he laughed, a sudden wave of anxiety flooded over him and his eyes watered on instinct, preparing for the onslaught of some form of mental anguish. He hadn't felt like this since living in his old apartment, but he couldn't find the source for the pain.

Sasuke could see something akin to fear flash across the blond's face and he scrunched his brows in worry.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto could see it; he could see him wrapped in someone's arms as they fell from a high cliff, plummeting toward the rocky creek below. He could see it as if it were really happening, his vision blocked from the real world in that instant. As they got closer to the ground, he could see Sasuke's handsome face and just as they reached the creek, reality snapped back in and he fumbled backwards.

Catching Naruto by the wrist, Sasuke wrapped his arm around his waist and kept him from falling into the water.

But just as the memory had came, it disappeared, causing Naruto to get extremely confused. He could remember having a vivid scene played out in front of him, but he couldn't remember what of. What was going on?

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, concerned.

"Naruto, what happened?" Sakura called from where everyone was sitting.

"I-I'm fine! I just tripped!" he called back with a nervous smile, whispering a thanks to the dark-haired male who'd prevented him from drenching himself from head to toe. "Man, that was weird... But thanks for keeping me from falling in," he grinned.

"No problem..." Sasuke looked at him suspiciously. He could feel as if something was off.

--

"Welcome back, Hinata-chan!"

A much taller woman with kind brown eyes kissed Hinata on the cheek, definitely happy to see the beautiful girl again. She beckoned for all of the other guests to come in to the large, wooden home. There was already dinner set up on the table and she had a light pink apron adorning her plump frame, her cinnamon-colored hair in a messy bun.

"I'm Aunt Chie!" she led them all to the table. "Kiba's mother is out at the moment, so I'll be showing you to your rooms after supper. Hopefully, you all have a hearty appetite!"

"Aunt Chie makes the best food," Kiba told everyone, quickly digging in to the mashed potatoes. "It's more western cooking, but it's soooooo good," he then went for the corn.

Sasuke looked around at everything in the kitchen and dining room, wondering how someone could have such a huge obsession with dogs. Pictures of canines were everywhere, along with a puppy clock, a German Shepard cutting board, etc. Chie blocked his line of vision when she went to a propped open cupboard that was full of canned foods, a broom, and a pile of things on the wooden floor. She retrieved a dirty duffle bag and shut the door.

"Sakura, dear, I found this in the attic when I was cleaning it out," she sat the bag on the floor by the pink-haired girl. "You must have left it here **years** ago when you and little Kiba would have your slumber parties," she laughed lightly.

The raven almost cringed. The woman reminded him too much of his mother.

"Uwaaa! This was the butterfly bag my mom got for me on my tenth birthday! Ino, do you remember this?" she asked her blonde friend, scooting her chair back so she could place it on her lap and zip open the pockets.

"Ew, I remember that thing," Temari frowned. "You had a jar of frogs in there once 'cause you thought it'd be cool to have them as your pets. But they got loose."

Sakura laughed at the memory, still going through her things while everyone else ate and chatted about different things. Kiba and Chie were discussing what the weather was going to be like around town for the next few days, so they could make plans on where to go and what to do that week. Shikamaru was quietly conversing with Kankuro about some television show, while Hinata paid close attention to all of the things Sakura and Ino were looking at in the bag.

"Look at these," Ino pointed to a bunch of bent photos that were in one of the side pockets. "They're pictures from a horror party we went to when we were eleven. You were a pink power ranger, who would've figured," she teased.

"I looked good," Sakura snickered and looked through the photographs. "Aww, look at Naruto! He was so adorable dressed up as a vampire!"

"Let me see!" Naruto leaned over Hide Zou's lap and laughed when his boyfriend tickled him a bit. He glanced at the photo and saw him, Sakura, and Ino playing in his old neighborhood. He knew... he knew his mom was the one taking the photograph. That was when she was more... sane. He watched Sakura go to another picture and blinked when he saw an unfamiliar boy beside them while in front of an old house that he recognized.

Ino's breath caught in her throat and she looked up at Sasuke, catching the raven's eyes.

"Who's that?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Sakura shrugged. "Ino, do you know who that is?"

The blonde smiled a bit at the small, dark-haired child in the photo.

"Nope, but he sure is cute..." she wished that they could all just reminisce together, but he knew that Sasuke wouldn't be able to join in until Naruto recovered all of his memories.

Naruto then realized that the house in the background was the one that he'd seen in his dream. It was the first dream he could actually remember and reached out to grab the picture from Sakura, earning him a loud complaint. He studied the photo and frowned.

"Whose house is this?"

Ino shrugged, even though she knew the answer.

"Oh, that one?" Chie passed by them with a few emptied dishes in her hands. "That's the Uchiha manor," she told them. "I knew the family quite well years ago. I used to be the best of friends with Mikoto, the owner's wife. Such a sweet and charming woman."

Sasuke's body immediately stiffened and he glanced at the photo in Naruto's tan hands, recognizing the old home instantly. Memories of his time spent with his brother and parents were as fresh in his mind as the memories of everything that happened the past two days. Why was he in that picture? Was it because Kyuubi didn't know these pictures existed? Is that why his memory wasn't erased from them?

"Unfortunately, a great tragedy happened... and Mikoto and her husband moved away," Chie's eyes became a shade darker as she placed the dirty dishes in the sink and rinsed them off so she could place them in the dish washer.

"Wait," Shikamaru spoke up after finishing his meal. "Sasuke, isn't your surname Uchiha?"

Everyone paid close attention to the conversation when that sentence slipped from the man's lips. Ino watched on, nervous as she'd ever been. Yes, she wanted Naruto to remember everything, but she didn't want everyone else to know, too!

"..."

"It is, isn't it?" Kankuro chimed in. "Are you related to them? Uchiha is a really rare name."

"I'm..." Sasuke swallowed, not really knowing what to say. Everyone's eyes were on him and he could feel the urge to be sick. He didn't want them all to know who he was, what he was... "I'm Mikoto's cousin..."

Chie approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and turn. Her soft brown eyes looked straight into his dark ones, her lips tightening.

"Sasuke was the name of Mikoto's youngest child..."

Ino bit her bottom lip. _Sasuke...!_

"Sasuke... he was killed by his older brother during the summer of '99... Your eyes... You're Mikoto's son, aren't you? But how are you alive? It was true that they never found your body, but... after a fall like that..."

Sasuke pushed his chair back sharply and got up, his head spinning. If everyone finds out what he really is, then Kyuubi will erase all of their memories again and drag him down to hell for all of eternity. He would never get Naruto back, never live the life he'd always wanted...

"Sasuke!" Ino shouted, getting from her own chair and ignoring the stunned looks on everyone's faces. She reached out to grab his arm, but he'd already spun around, red bleeding into his eyes and the small pitch black wheels churning at full speed. The girl stopped right in her spot and everything rewound itself, up until the point where Chie took the bag out of the cupboard. He paused what was going on, ignoring the pain in his eyes, and unzipped the side pocket of the bag in Kiba's aunt's grasp.

Removing the pictures, bending them, and stuffing them in his back pocket, he sat back down and tried his hardest to remain calm and hold back the tears he wanted to let out. Was anything ever going to go his way? Was he always going to have to alter peoples lives in order to have one simple thing go right for him? Letting black seep back into his irises, he watched the whole scene from before play out, minus the photographs.

"How come you're so quiet?" Naruto asked, looking over at him. "You haven't said a single word since we got here. Are you feeling okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Sasuke lied through a small smile. He tried not to look at Ino, who was staring at him from beside the babbling Sakura. He swallowed in order to keep his chest from aching, but it wasn't working too well. Everything had almost fallen apart again...

When dinner was over, Sasuke walked behind Naruto and Hide Zou up the creaky stair case, his gaze focused on their joined hands. He watched them laugh and peck each other on the lips, then stopped in the middle of the steps, his face emotionless.

Hide Zou turned and raised his pierced brows.

"What's with you? You've been acting weird all evening."

"I'm just tired..." Sasuke spoke, almost in monotone. "I'll be fine."

"If ya say so," Hide Zou led Naruto to their room while grinning and laughing about something Kiba had told him.

But Sasuke remained standing on the stairs, mind racing.

Maybe he shouldn't even try anymore. Maybe Naruto was better off with Hide Zou. Maybe they just weren't meant to be together anymore...

He lowered his head.

Maybe there was really nothing he could do.

But he ignored that thought and scowled to himself. Just because all of that might be true... didn't mean he was going to give up. He loved Naruto too much and he'd put too much on the line.

_I don't care if I have to tear myself apart in order to get you to love me again._

_You'll be mine._

**Next chapter: In which Ino tries her hardest to get Naruto to fall for Sasuke, Sasuke relives his death, an unknown presense throws Gaara and Sasuke off, and Naruto and Sasuke find themselves before a very familiar man.**

**"I-Itachi...? Aniki...?"**

**Two pairs of black eyes clashed.**

**"Otouto."**


	9. Presence

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Sorry this took so long, I've been dealing with a lot of stress. Jeez, I miss being a teen with no issues whatsoever. You know the usual shit; suicidal thoughts, depression, and he said-she said bullshit. I'm very thankful that I haven't done anything stupid because then I'd be leaving all of you guys without finished stories! :laughs: I hope you enjoy this chapter guys, you mean a lot to me.**

**Hopefully, this long chapter makes up for the long wait D: **

**DEDICATED TO RAY-SENPAI BECAUSE SHE'S AMAZING!**

Low clouds circled the high mountains and hills everyone was hiking up, covering the thin path in a thick fog. Hinata kept to Kiba's side, holding onto his arm in fear of falling off the edge of the cliff, Naruto was chatting with Hide Zou like there wasn't a single worry in the world, Sakura was kicking pebbles down into the forest hundreds of feet below them, and Ino and Sasuke were in the back, silent. Sasuke kept his eyes shut and let his friend lead him, not too fond of heights after his death.

Sakura whispered a 'sugoi' as she kicked a few more pebbles over the ledge, scaring poor Hinata to death. The darker-haired girl clung to her boyfriend like no tomorrow, worried that Sakura's curious activity would cause the whole trail to collapse beneath them.

"P-please stop, Sakura," she whimpered pathetically, earning a kiss on the forehead from Kiba. The tan teenager looked back at his friend with a sly grin, wondering if the obnoxious female would hit the ground below faster than the stupid pebbles. He was tempted by the thought, but kept himself in check.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chaaaaan!" Naruto grinned, holding Hide Zou's hand. "Nothing'll happen, I promise. Aunt Chie wouldn't bring you up here if she thought there was any danger."

Chie nodded as she tied her shoulder-length hair back into a messy ponytail. Grass stains were on the bottom of her worn out jeans and sweat matted the hair on the back of her neck, a tan forming on her creamy skin. She led them further up the mountainous terrain until they reached a thick fog that loomed around and above five thick trees and some berry bushes.

"Here we are, kiddies," she smiled and pointed into the mist. "First one to find the onsen gets first dibs on the Ichigo Daifuku I'm going to make tonight. Don't worry, you won't fall off the cliff here."

The moment she said that, everyone but Hinata and Sasuke took off, laughing and shoving each other out of the way so they could find their target. Kiba cursed loudly when he stumbled over tree roots, only to start snickering when Ino did the same and fell hard on her behind.

Naruto couldn't hear his friends' footsteps anymore as he ran deeper into the dense fog, his grin brighter than his hair. As he sprinted as fast as possible, he found a patch where his foot didn't touch earth and his eyes widened, his lean body falling forward.

Hide Zou was taking his sweet time finding the onsen, having given up on running after he'd found himself slamming knee cap first into a old tree. Stopping in place when he heard someone shout, he turned to the left and quickly made his way in the direction it came from, finally finding the onsen hidden behind the thick fog and some tall bushes.

"Zou Zou," Naruto sputtered, coughing up the water he'd accidently inhaled when he'd fallen in. He grabbed onto his lover's ankle and was quickly pulled onto dry ground, a warm hand against his burning skin. His face was flushed from the hot water and his clothes clung to his frame.

"Are you okay?" Hide Zou asked, genuinely concerned. He looked into the blond's eyes and smiled when he saw his lover form his own quivering smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

"I fell in when I was running," Naruto explained, coughing up the rest of the little bit of water. He ran his damp arm across his closed eyes in an attempt to swipe away the water. "But I'm fine... **and** I found the onsen before everyone else," he grinned slightly. "I get first dibs on Aunt Chie's Ichigo Daifuku tonight!"

Hide Zou laughed and ran his calloused thumb along Naruto's wet jaw, leaning in to kiss him lightly. "You know you want to get enough to share with me..." he whispered attractively.

Naruto laughed and pulled back, flicking his boyfriend's nose as if he were a misbehaving dog. "You're such a fatty," he teased, his cheeks still flushed from the steaming hot spring water.

"Oi! I think I see Naruto and Hide Zou over there!" Sakura's voice penetrated the peaceful banter between the two, their faces turning toward the approaching shadow that was Sakura. She emerged quickly, panting. "Y-You guys must've ran fast to get this far! ... Jeez, what happened to you?" she blinked at Naruto's 'drowned rat' look.

The blond huffed and stood, yanking off his shirt and scratching at his red chest.

"I fell in the spring because I wasn't paying attention and almost drowned," he told her, "but I did find it first, so you know what that means!"

The pink-haired female put her hands on her hips and swayed back and forth.

"Yeah, well, I don't need to eat them anyway," she said while showing off her curves. "I have a gorgeous female body to keep in shape, unlike you," she smirked darkly, "you fatty."

Naruto froze. He glanced down at his toned stomach and pinched it, able to get a hold of a small bit of skin. It definitely wasn't fat, but he couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. He stuck his bottom lip out childishly and crossed his arms.

"He's not fat, Sakura. Teasing him isn't nice," Sasuke's voice came from behind them and all three of them jumped a foot in the air, turning sharply to see the raven leaning against a tree with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His eyebrows were cocked, curious. "Chie-san, they're over here."

Aunt Chie came up behind him not even a second later, heaving a relieved sigh.

"I was worried I might have lost you. This part of the mountain is very wide. But congradulations on finding the onsen first," she smiled to Naruto. "But you know what I just realized? I'm fresh out of strawberries," she sighed solemnly.

"..." Naruto was speechless.

Sasuke smirked.

-----------

If someone would've told Sasuke that they'd be looking out over the mountains from one of the highest ones in the area, he would've said "no way" and would've skipped out on the trip. Unfortunately, the mountain viewing had been a spur of the moment thing on Kiba's behalf and Sasuke was just about to ring the dog boy's neck. He didn't have a problem hiking up a mountain because he didn't have to look down, but now that he was supposed to go with them to look out over the landscape, he could feel his fake, human heart beating in his chest.

"You okay, Sasuke?" Ino asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. She pulled her appendage back, though, when she noticed how cold he was. "It's supposed to snow later... you might want to put on the extra coat I brought with me."

"Yeah, because that's going to fit me," Sasuke gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to freak out as everyone gathered around each other to glance over the ledge. His posture was stiff and he refused to budge when Ino prodded him to go up.

Her blue eyes blinked slowly, then they widened when she realized what was wrong with her friend. She bit her bottom lip and tugged him back away from everyone, rubbing his back in slow circles.

"You could've told them you were afraid of heights or something," she sighed, going in front of him and crossing her arms. "That'd be better than forcing yourself to remember your own death," she whispered so the others wouldn't hear. "I could tell them you don't feel well and take you back to Aunt Chie's house..."

Sasuke glared at the ground, his pride getting the best of him at the moment. He wondered why he'd ever wanted his human emotions back, since at the moment they were hindering him from being like everyone else. Even while somewhat alive, he was still so different from everyone.

"I can handle it--" he started, but Naruto's voice broke through and the tall blond trotted over to them, grinning like the idiot he was.

"Sasuke, Ino, you're missing the view! If you look close enough, you can see the stream that's by the main road! Come on, take a look!" he grabbed both of their wrists and tugged, earning himself a yelp from Ino and an unexpected growl from the young Uchiha.

Unfortunately, Naruto's persistent tugging brought Sasuke close enough to the edge to see down into the dense woods below. The height caused the raven to swallow and he tried his hardest not to hypervenalate. As hard as he tried, he couldn't yank his eyes away from the sight and a shiver went up his spine, the familiar image of his brother dropping him into the turbulent ocean resurfacing.

This was what he wanted to avoid. A flashback.

"What's wrong with Sasuke?"

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yank him back, he's walking too close to the edge!" Kiba's booming voice yelled. "Sasuke, what the fuck are you doing? Trying to kill yourself?.! Get away from the ledge before you fall!"

Ino tried to go after her friend, but Aunt Chie held her back as best as she could, not wanting the young girl to end up hurt, or even worse; dead. Crystal blue eyes were filled with worry as Sasuke's chest heaved in and out rapidly as he mumbled words to himself. A sudden gust of wind blew upward from the valley at the bottom of the mountains, the whistling sound seeming like a scream for help to the raven-haired boy... His own scream for help.

Before he could fall over the ledge, a freezing cold hand wrapped around his wrist and yanked him back with enough force to slam him against the ground and cause his vision to swim. The last thing he heard before everything faded to black was Naruto's serious apologies, Ino's worried voice, and Kiba cursing up a storm while warm arms lifted him into the air.

Then everything went silent and he slipped into unconsciousness.

But not before the wind blew again...

And Sasuke could have sworn he'd heard an 'I'm sorry' from a voice he hadn't heard in years.

-----------

"I-Ino, what're you doing?" Hinata cried pathetically when the blondie snatched the unknown tape from her hands. She'd brought it on the trip with the intention of watching it and seeing what it was, but as soon as she'd told Ino that she'd randomly found it in her closet, the girl had bugged out and snatched it away.

Ino held the tape close to her, thankful that Hinata had told her what it was instead of just popping it in the VCR. If she'd done that, the whole room would have been surprised, confused, and probably aroused. Looking at the mousy girl in apology, she smiled nervously.

"Um, don't you remember what this is? I brought it over a long time ago thinking it was a recording of House... b-but it was really a school play I was in during third grade?"

Hinata blinked her pale eyes, but recognition flashed across her soft face and she laughed a little, hair bangs slipping over her eyes.

"Oh, you left that in my room? Thank goodness I didn't play it or else you would've been embarrassed," she giggled, causing a quick and relieved laugh to come from Ino. The girl sighed right afterward and stood up, avoiding Naruto's suspicious gaze from across the living room. He was sitting with Hide Zou on the arm of the couch, which was occupied by the still unconscious Sasuke.

"You never told me you had a tape like that," Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Because it's something embarrassing that I don't like showing people," Ino replied instantly, walking past him to go upstairs and stash the tape away where no one would ever find it. "Don't bother looking for it, 'cause you'll never find it!" she laughed cheerfully.

Aunt Chie entered the room with a tray of scones that she'd made, hoping that would lighten the slightly tense mood a little. Since they'd all returned home, everyone had flopped down in the living room and mainly kept quiet in respect for Sasuke, but she knew how much it was bothering her nephew and had decided to do something to get everyone a little more cheerful again.

"I made you all some scones," she smiled kindly. "My own recipe, too."

Everyone looked over at her in excitement, all of them pretty much starving. They got up and went over to get as many of the pastries as they could, bt Naruto remained at Sasuke's side. For some reason, he couldn't get himself to leave him. He didn't know if it was from the guilt or something else... He hadn't known that the guy was afraid of heights... He could've been the reason for his friend's death...

_Again..._ his thought echoed throughout his head and he looked down at Sasuke's pale face. Again? Why had he thought that?

"Kinpatsu, do you want one?" Hide Zou asked, coming back to sit down with him. He held out one of the buttered scones and smiled when his lover took it. "Don't blame yourself, okay? You didn't know he had a problem with heights and he's fine. Just a little bump to the head."

"I know, but I shouldn't have dragged him..." Naruto sighed, scratching at the back of his head while he took a bite of the warm treat. "I told him he was going to have fun on this trip, but look what happened. He's probably going to hate me after this."

Hide Zou chuckled, ruffling his boyfriend's hair.

"I doubt it. Don't be so negative, it gets you nowhere."

"I know, you've told me that a million times," Naruto pouted.

Aunt Chie sat the almost empty tray down on the stand by the sofa and rubbed her hands together, putting on a kind smile.

"Sasuke will be fine, so don't worry too much. Now, how about we all go out back and tend to the animals? Sakura, I know how much you love the horses."

The pink-haired college student immediately turned toward the older woman with a grin on her face and crumbs around her mouth. She'd always loved spending time with the horses and it was usually the first thing she did when visiting. Getting up off the floor, she wiped her mouth off with the back of her arm and straightened her shirt.

"I don't want to leave Sasuke here by himself," Naruto said, worried. "Something might happen..."

"He'll be just fine. He only bumped his head a little too hard, is all, "Chie smiled. "Let him rest in peace and we'll go do some work outside. Kiba, your mother should be home soon. She was supposed to be home last night, but her car broke down..."

Kiba snorted.

"Of course. Leave it to Mom to forget to fill the car up with gas before going out."

Everyone got up and left reluctantly, each person glancing back at Sasuke, hoping he'd be okay. Ino and Shikamaru came downstairs while they were all leaving, the pineapple-headed male yawning and exluding himself from the little trip to the farm with the excuse of having not been able to have breakfast due to sleeping in. Ino just waved to them and mumbled an apology, saying she wanted to spend a little time with her boyfriend.

"So he fell and hit his head?" Shikamaru asked, stretching as he got himself a bowl of cereal. Ino got him the milk and he thanked her with a smile. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeah..." the blonde sighed, sitting down at the table and tapping her fingers on the mahogany wood. "He just needs his rest now..."

"What's bothering you?" Shikamaru sat beside his girlfriend and took a bite of his fruity cereal. "You seem a little..."

"I'm fine," the girl put on a bright smile. "I was just thinking about something... No need to worry!"

Shikamaru raised a brow while munching on his brunch.

"Sure."

----------

_"It's not a proper hour to be sleeping, Uchiha."_

_Sasuke turned at the familiar voice and saw Gaara, his face blank like it usually was. His own expression was that of confusion and wonder, curious as to why he felt awake when apparently he wasn't. He lifted up his hand and examined it, rubbing his thumb over the tips of his fingers. It felt real to him..._

_"You have your own special abilities and I have mine," was all the angel said before he stepped forward. As soon as he moved, the surroundings faded into black and ripples appeared under his bare feet as if he were walking on water. "I wonder what happened for you to be in a state of unconsciousness at this hour."_

_The raven looked down to see his own reflection in the water, then back up to meet Gaara's burning gaze._

_"I was on a mountain and got too close to the edge..."_

_"You relived your death, didn't you?" Gaara asked, face still blank. "And the memories tried to drag you back to your death, did they not? They tried to kill you in the same way you were killed before."_

_Sasuke nodded._

_"Does the same thing happen to--"_

_"I can't get too close to a hospital or else I'll hear the cries of my mother. But you are extremely lucky... While your memories try to drag you back to death, mine order me to bring death upon others," the words slipped from his mouth darkly. "I'll feel as if I need to kill those who were like me when I died. Infants."_

_Sasuke winced at the thought._

_"But," Gaara started once again. "That's not what I needed to speak to you about. There is a presence that throws me off. It is close to you, but as much as I try to, I can't grasp onto its consciousness like I can everyone else's."_

_"A presence?"_

_"It's similar to what we are... yet there's a difference. I can't seem to figure out what it is or what it's doing here, but I thought that you should know. Try to find out what it is for me."_

_The dark-haired male snorted._

_"We're going back to the dorms tomorrow afternoon, so I won't have time. I'm sure it's just another guardian angel, like us."_

_Gaara only stared at him._

_"We will never know, I assume," the shorter of the two stepped back and color returned to the silent world. "I will see you when you return. You may awaken now."_

_----------_

Sasuke's dark eyes snapped open and the bright light took him by surprise, his pupils becoming smaller and his eyes quickly going shut in reaction to the pain. He scrunched his face up, but slowly relaxed and took in the sounds around him. Ino's voice was soft in the background, as well as Shikamaru's. They were talking about an anniversary coming soon and the girl's laughter echoed painfully in his head. He felt as if he'd been hit by a truck.

_How long was I out?_

Sitting up slowly, he rubbed at the lump on the back of his head and memories of what had happened flashed through his mind as vividly as the memories of his death had. He could recall someone's hand yanking him back and the voice apologizing to him... The voice had been familiar, but he knew it was none of his friends'.

"Sasuke!" Ino ran into the room, interrupting his train of thought. She put her hands on his shoulders and stared at him, worried. "Lay back down, you shouldn't get up so fast! Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Do you want anything to drink or--"

"I'm fine," Sasuke cut her off, holding his hand up to stop her. "I just have a small headache, nothing to worry about."

"Y-you sure? You hit your head pretty hard..." Ino bit her bottom lip.

"Who exactly yanked me back?" the raven asked, rubbing the back of his head. "I should kick their ass."

Ino blinked, then furrowed her brows.

"Oh, well... you sort of just fell backwards. No one pulled you back..."

Sasuke turned toward her, confusion in his obsidian orbs.

"No one pulled me back? But I distinctly remember someone grabbing my wrist... Ino, if it were a ghost or anything of the sort, you would've been able to see it... but you didn't see anything?" he whispered so the approaching Shikamaru wouldn't hear.

The blonde shook her head.

"I think you're forgetting that I'm not like the rest of my family..."

Sasuke glared down at the floor. There was no way he could've imagined it, right? Holding his hand up, he examined his wrist and frowned when he didn't see any marks. Whoever had yanked him had grabbed a hold of him pretty hard; hard enough to where they should've left bruises or some form of a mark. Maybe he **had** imagined it...

"Where's everyone else?" he decided to change the topic, not wanting to seem like he was going crazy.

"Out on the farm," Shikamaru answered in his girlfriend's place, tossing Sasuke a bottle of tylenol. "Take two of these and the headache should go away within a few minutes."

"Thanks..." Sasuke took them and swallowed without the aid of a beverage, wincing as his head throbbed in pain. So much for having fun on the vacation. Now he had to deal with the others surrounding him like vultures to see the complete damage, as if he were a busted up car. Not only that, but he had to worry about the odd presence Gaara had spoken to him about. He'd told the red-head that it was probably just a guardian angel, but he didn't even believe himself.

Maybe what had saved him was the thing that Gaara had talked about...

"You should rest, you know. Just a little bit longer," Ino smiled, forcing her friend to lay back down. "I'll make you something to eat. Oh! I think one of Chie's scones are left! I'll heat that up for you and get you a cup of milk!" she chirped and got up quickly, scurrying off to the kitchen.

Shikamaru watched her leave, then focused on Sasuke's thoughtful expression.

"So you two used to be childhood friends?" he asked, genuinely curious. He didn't remember Ino ever speaking about someone named Sasuke. He only remembered Naruto being mentioned, yet his significant other seemed closer to the paler male than the tan one. "She never mentioned anything about you until she got back from vacation."

Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Maybe she forgot all about me?"

"Ino has the memory of an elephant," the brown-haired teen chuckled. "So I highly doubt it."

Ino returning to the living room cut off the small talk they were having, a plate with a single scone and some grapes in her one hand and a cup of milk in the other. She smiled to them and sat down on the floor, sitting Indian style while holding the plate up for her friend.

"You tell me to lay down, then you tell me to get up again," Sasuke grumbled, pushing himself up in a sitting position. As he ate, Shikamaru told him the story about how he and Ino had met in middle school and how they'd started going out in seventh grade. The raven was amazed that they'd been together for so long. How long would it have been? Almost seven years?

The blonde smiled prettily as the love of her life spoke about their relationship, but her mind was too pre-occupied with what Sasuke had said earlier. She didn't want to tell him what she really saw and felt...

She looked down at her lap, closing her eyes and making an expression as if trying to get rid of a headache. Never in her life had she seen spirits or felt their presence like her little brother could... She'd always been left in the dark, away from what her entire family could do... But for the first time, she'd seen and felt something...

_Sh-should I tell him...?_

Gripping the bottom of her shirt, she sighed to herself.

No.

No, she wouldn't.

------------

Kiba grinned and popped a handful of potato chips in his mouth, munching on them loudly while talking to Hide Zou. He was talking animatedly about how they should all go to the beach sometime during their next break and get drunk, but only Kankuro was really into it. Everyone else just ignored the loud brunette's plans, even his girlfriend.

They were all on their way home and like Sasuke had expected, everyone continued to bother him about whether or not he was doing okay. He didn't know how many times he had to tell them that he was fine and didn't even have a headache anymore. It'd been an entire day since the incident, yet no one would leave him alone. All he wanted was to sit back and relax the rest of the way back to their college, but he couldn't even have that.

"Come on, guys," Ino said, noticing her friend's annoyance. "Leave him alone. He looks tired."

Sakura agreed and turned to start talking to her blonde friend, everyone else eventually following pursuit. Sasuke had never been so thankful in his life, a sigh of relief slipping through his slightly parted lips. Closing his eyes, he focused on trying to fall asleep, but could only get a picture of Gaara in his head.

Furrowing his brows, he opened his eyes back up, but only saw the colorful world he'd seen yesterday while asleep, Gaara standing there in his angelic robes.

_"Uchiha, the presence is coming closer to the campus. I was able to enter its consciousness for only a moment, but I was able to see you through its eyes. If I'm correct, it's following you back here. When you arrive at the college, use your ability to stop time. I'll take things from there."_

Sasuke blinked, then everything dissolved back into what it was before. Everyone was talking about going back to their classes and how they were dreading the work, while rock music was playing loudly up front where Hide Zou was tapping his thumb on the steering wheel. Kiba asked him what was so great about screaming music, but Hide Zou's only reply was leaning close to the dog boy and mouthing the words to the song in a very obnoxious manner.

"You okay? You looked really out of it for a second," Naruto commented, fiddling with the cap to a snapple he'd just had. "You sure you don't need to go to the hospital or something? You might have a concussion."

The angel sat forward, giving up on his beauty sleep. He'd just do that once he got back to his dorm room. If he was thankful for anything at the moment, it was that he didn't have a roommate. Brushing his bangs out of his face, Sasuke gave his old lover a small smile. He didn't want to worry the handsome blond.

"I was only thinking..." Sasuke started. "Hey, do you think we could go out tomorrow? Around four when everyone else is in class? I wanted to do some early Christmas shopping since it's next month and I'd like a little help."

Naruto grinned immediately, strangely eager to hang out with his new friend.

"Why invite me?"

Sasuke sighed.

"Because I can only go when I don't have a class and that's from four to seven. You're the only one who doesn't have a class then, either."

Nodding, the blond tossed the snapple cap in the makeshift trashbag between the two front seats and leaned back, tilting his head to the side to crack his neck. He was friends with Sasuke, sure, but Christmas shopping would give them some time to get closer. Then maybe he and the Uchiha could be close chums... or whatever.

"I might as well do a little shopping, too, since I'll be out," Naruto spoke mostly to himself.

Neither of them noticed Ino eavesdropping, a happy little smile on her face.

----------

Gaara approached Sasuke when everyone started exiting the van in front of Ino's dorm, his crimson hair blowing around wildly in the wind. His shadowed eyes glanced back and forth from one spot of the campus to the other, as if searching for someone or something. Placing his hand on the raven's shoulder, he narrowed his eyes.

"There has been a change of plans," he muttered, ignoring the suspicious gaze of Ino. Everyone else just greeted the red-head before heading off in the direction of their own dorm rooms, yelling to each other about meeting up somewhere later for dinner. "The presence seems to have... disappeared."

Sasuke's lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Disappeared?"

"It faded away once it got too close to you," Gaara replied. "I tried to speak with Kyuubi-sama about it, but Shukaku-sama wouldn't let me see him. Do you think it could be a demon?"

The raven snorted and began walking down the sidewalk, Gaara right on his heels. He tugged his luggage along, yanking when the wheel got stuck on a broken piece of the cement.

"Demons can't manifest themselves on this field, nor can spirits."

"Yet we can?" Gaara frowned. "There is no room to be narrow-minded, Uchiha."

Sasuke glared at him.

"Now go to your dorm and pay close attention to anything that seems different for the next few days," Gaara started. "The presence could still be close. Also, make sure to be careful when you go out with him on Thursday," he turned and tilted his head in the direction of Naruto's retreating back.

"How did you know I had plans with him?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"My specialty covers a variety of things that have to do with the mind," the red-head's voice was monotone, his face still blank. "Now return to your dorm. I'll inform you if anything happens."

----------

Naruto scratched at his arm absently, while looking over at the large playground on his right. He was walking side-by-side with Sasuke and for the past fifteen minutes, they'd been talking about random things that actually kept him interested. It wasn't the boring small talk he had with some of the teachers he didn't know at school, it was the kind of conversation someone would have with a loony sociology teacher.

The raven would ask him "think outside of the box" questions and he found himself actually thinking and becoming indulged in what Sasuke was saying.

"I'm not really the intellectual type, but answering these questions actually make me feel smart," the blond laughed, folding his arms behind his head as he walked. The action left Sasuke remembering when they'd walk to the store together to get groceries...

"That was the point of me asking them," Sasuke put on a smirk, shoving aside the memories, "so that you'd feel smart about yourself for a moment."

Naruto blinked, then glared over at his friend.

"Teme, you're an ass hole!"

Sasuke held back the smile he wanted to show his ex-lover.

They continued to walk down the sidewalk that went through a small park, Naruto stopping every once and a while to pet a dog that someone would walk by with. His grin was huge as he just amused himself with the simplest of things, something Sasuke had always loved about him. Though, after a while, it did become annoying since they'd only gone through half of the park in thirty minutes due to Naruto's interest in everything.

Sasuke wasn't in that much of a rush, though. He knew what was on the outskirts of the park and if it had been up to him, he would've gone out of the way to avoid the path they were going down. What was on the other side of the trees was something he dreaded and wanted to avoid at all costs, but he knew he couldn't. The best he could do would be to avoid looking at it.

"Huh, this place looks kind of familiar," Naruto mumbled when they emerged from the thick trees, a bunch of old houses coming into view. "I usually never go this way, so I wonder why... maybe I drove by here."

The raven kept his mouth closed as they passed the small neighborhood, his eyes on the ground. If he looked, he'd be thrown down memory lane. And he did **not** want that.

Naruto glanced around at all of the old houses, but his blue eyes stopped their wandering when they landed on a certain one toward the center. He stopped his long strides, Sasuke passing him.

"That's the house from my dream..." he whispered to himself, remebering how he'd opened that very door in order to step into the home. In his dream, he hadn't really gone inside yet and curiousity was killing him at the moment.

"Naruto, let's go," the raven growled, still walking. 

"Hey... there's someone out front," the blond said, squinting so he could get a better look.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, lifting his head and turning enough to see the outline of someone standing in his old house's yard. He was obviously male by the height and shape and his hair was black from where Sasuke could see...

The man turned and his dark eyes met Sasuke's, as if he knew he and Naruto were staring.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the stranger's face, his heart hammering loudly in his chest.

"A-Aniki..."

**Meh, not the best of quality, but I tried :pout:**


End file.
